Always Interesting When The Former Socialists Criticize The New Socialists

EU leader condemns US ‘road to hell’
By Tony Barber in Brussels and Edward Luce in Washington
Published: March 25 2009 20:00
European Union hopes for a new era in relations with the US were thrown into chaos on Wednesday when the holder of the EU presidency condemned American remedies for the global recession as “the road to hell”.
Barely a week before Barack Obama is due to arrive in Europe on his first official visit as US president, Mirek Topolanek, the Czech Republic’s prime minister, put the 27-nation EU on a collision course with Washington.

His attack compounded the confusion that has engulfed EU policy after the Czech leader lost a no-confidence vote in the country’s parliament on Tuesday, forcing him to offer his government’s resignation midway through its six-month EU presidency.
Mr Topolanek said EU leaders had been disturbed at a summit in Brussels last week to hear calls from Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, for more aggressive policies to fight the global downturn.
“The US Treasury secretary talks about permanent action and we, at our spring council, were quite alarmed at that . . . The US is repeating mistakes from the 1930s, such as wide-ranging stimuluses, protectionist tendencies and appeals, the Buy American campaign, and so on,” he told a European parliament session in Strasbourg. “All these steps, their combination and their permanency, are the road to hell.”
US officials made no comment on the remarks. But the Obama administration says it took great pains to ensure that the Buy American provisions in the $787bn (€579bn) stimulus that the president signed into law last month were consistent with World Trade Organisation rules. It followed, therefore, that any attempt to make them permanent would continue to be consistent with WTO rules.
EU diplomats said it was the most extraordinary outburst from a political leader in charge of running the EU’s affairs since Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, caused uproar in 2003 when he likened a German socialist member of the European parliament to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
Other leaders of EU member states, including Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, disagree with US calls for big fiscal stimuli to battle the recession. But they have couched their opposition in more diplomatic language than Mr Topolanek’s.
The Czech leader was speaking eight days before Mr Obama was due to arrive in London for a G20 summit of the world’s developed and emerging economies.
After the summit and a Nato meeting in France and Germany, the US president is due to fly to Prague for an EU-US summit, at which the Czech Republic will represent all 27 member states.
Relations between the Obama administration and Mr Topolanek’s government have been delicate in recent weeks because of signals from Washington that Mr Obama may reassess plans to deploy parts of a US anti-missile shield in the Czech Republic, a project to which the Topolanek government has been committed.
Mr Obama has vigorously opposed the view that the Great Depression was caused by too much spending, rather than too little, a view held by a small handful of rightwing economists.

Nicely Said.......................

Against stupidity, the gods themselves are powerless. - Friedrich Schiller, 1801

Ron Paul Has Been Right About Everything So Far!

Ron Paul: Believer in small government predicts 15-year depression
By Phil DavisThe Financial TimesMarch 22, 2009
Pension trustees and insurance company portfolio managers look away now. Your increased commitment to government bond holdings in recent times is about to blow up spectacularly.
At least, that is the view of Ron Paul, the US congressman who ran against John McCain in last year's Republican Party presidential nomination.
His is a minority view. Yields on government bonds worldwide have been falling fast over the past few months and in the UK, the commencement of “quantitative easing” this month sent bond prices soaring.
But the credibility of both western governments and their currencies is waning, and has been ever since the gold standard was abandoned in 1971, says Mr Paul. And that means even “safe” investments are far from safe, he claims.
“People will start to abandon the dollar as current and past economic policies create a steep rise in interest rates,” Mr Paul says.
“If you are in Treasuries, you will need to be watchful and nimble to time your escape.”
Unfortunately, cashing out will not protect the value of investments, he insists, because “fiat” currencies will all decline over the coming years as measures to try to haul the world economy out of recession fail. “The current stimulus measures are making things a lot worse,” says Mr Paul.
“The US government just won't allow the correction the economy needs.” He cites the mini-depression of 1921, which lasted just a year largely because insolvent companies were allowed to fail. “No one remembers that one. They'll remember this one, because it will last 15 years.”
At some stage – Mr Paul estimates it will be between one and four years – the dollar will implode. “The dollar as a reserve standard is done,” he says. He sees little hope for other currencies where central banks have also created too much liquidity dating right back to the early 1970s.
“Europe and the US will both have to fundamentally change their money systems,” he adds.
And don't even mention shares to Mr Paul: “The last place you want to be is in the stock market,” he says. “It may not bottom out for 10 years – just look at Japan.”
Of course, everyone has a view on the credit crisis, its causes and putative solutions. What differentiates Mr Paul is that he has been warning of the dangers to the world economy for nearly 40 years. “The breakdown of Bretton Woods was my motivation for running for Congress. I have been talking about the dangers ever since and warning that the control by central banks over the money supply would create an enormous bubble.”
A deep recession had only been avoided up until now because of the efforts of successive governments to reflate the economy. But there are no more policy levers left, says Mr Paul. “This is the big one.”
Unsurprisingly, Mr Paul has been viewed as a crank in Washington, dismissed as a doomsayer and a party-pooper. His bill early this year to abolish the Federal Reserve was largely ignored. And his adherence to the Austrian School of economics, which predicted that fiat currencies would destabilise the world economy, has won him few friends.
“People don't like the Austrians because they are against big government, against armies and against the welfare state. To accept Austrian economics, you have to accept limitations of credit expansion and that is what has kept the government and financial firms in business for so long.”
However, his views are, for the first time, being taken seriously in Washington. Like another politician who recently aimed for high office, Al Gore, Mr Paul's uncomfortable truths are starting to be deliberated at elevated political levels. “Before last summer, in meetings nobody really knew I was there. Now they often defer to me on economic matters. But you won't catch any of them admitting that publicly – not yet at least.”
He believes that markets will fall much further and inflation rise much higher before his fellow politicians recognise that the system has failed. “We are likely to see an inflation depression,” Mr Paul says.
“In the 1970s, we had stagflation, but not depression. Inflation depression is what you see in Zimbabwe.”
Even Nouriel Roubini, the renegade economist whose once “extreme” views are now mainstream, fights shy of this analysis. The investment options arising from the analysis are no more palatable. In fact, according to Mr Paul, there is only one: gold.
Such an unproductive asset (unless you are a jeweller) appears unattractive even with the gold price having risen three-fold during the Bush administration. But Mr Paul argues that the current price of about $900/ounce could look cheap in a few years.
“It is not so much that gold will go up but that fiat currencies will go down,” he says. He even advocates a return to the gold standard, which he says is not as difficult as it sounds to achieve.
Mr Paul, it should be noted, first invested in gold nearly 40 years ago when it was worth $35/ounce and holds a part of his wealth in the metal. But he is not alone: gold exchange traded commodities have seen record inflows in the past six months, most wealth managers now recommend a core holding and central banks are loath to sell their quotas. Indeed, Russia has even announced it is buying gold.
Nevertheless, most large institutions, including pension funds, have little or no gold holdings. Mr Paul argues this is a mistake and decries the widely held view that gold is an anachronism.
“Gold is natural money and has been for 6,000 years,” he says.
“You just can't repeal those laws. A scrap of paper, which the government can just add a nought to, will not do.” He does not, though, expect the mainstream investment industry and its advisers to rush to the bullion vaults.

Treasuries Ho!

Fed Begins Buying U.S. Treasuries
By Bill Bonner

03/25/09 London, England Write in your diary…save today’s newspapers…remember what you did today. Most historians won’t even notice, but today is a big, big day.
Today is the day the Fed begins buying U.S. Treasuries. Britain is doing it already. So is Japan. Why shouldn’t we? What’s a few trillion extra…just between friends?
The scope of the project is immense.
Do you remember how it works, dear reader? When you buy a U.S. Treasury bond, you pay for it with real money – or, at least as real as dollars get. Money changes hands. No net increase in the money supply. But when the Fed buys a Treasury bond it creates the money to buy it…and thus the money supply increases. It’s called “monetizing the debt” – or converting debt into currency. Given the size of upcoming Treasury purchases, the total size of the U.S. monetary base is expected to increase 500% in the months ahead.
Is there any doubt what this will mean to the dollar? To the price of gold?
Yes, there is…
Alas, the more we learn, the less we know. The more we find out; the more we find out what we haven’t found out yet.
But we’ll come back to that in a moment. Let’s first look at what happened on Wall Street yesterday.
Stocks went down – 115 points on the Dow. End of the rally? We keep wondering. Whatever can be said about it, it’s not the best rally we’ve ever seen. It seems to peter out every time it gets going. But we’ll wait a few days before pronouncing judgment.
Meanwhile, oil seems sluggish at $54. The euro, too, at $1.34. But gold at least showed some action – down $28 to $923.
What happened in the gold market? Didn’t investors notice that the Fed has begun almost literally “printing money?” Why didn’t the price go to $1,000?
But remember how we’ve worried that inflation was too obvious? You can see it coming a mile away. Which is why we say the United States can pay off its debts in a currency whose value it alone controls…
But what if it weren’t true? What if the feds couldn’t control the value of the dollar? What if inflation didn’t happen – at least, not the way we all expect?
Let us begin with something that is true: that which must happen will happen.
When you increase the money supply, ceteris paribus, the price of money must go down. That is why the price of gold is over $900 rather than, say, $750. Investors see the trillions going into the world’s money supply. They weren’t born yesterday. They know what happens next. It is just a matter of time before the price of gold doubles…and doubles again.
But just because you add to the money supply doesn’t mean prices MUST rise. Instead, it means only that that MAY rise…under certain conditions.
Ah…there’s the rub…there’s the crack in our little bell…there’s the little grain of sand in our shoe.
The Japanese have been monetizing their debt for a long time, writes our friend James Ferguson in MoneyWeek.
“First, the authorities ran a steady double-digit growth in the money supply for over a decade, while the Japanese banks were initially in denial, and then the government injected nearly 10% of GDP directly into the banks’ capital bases. Yet even after money as a proportion of GDP had doubled, Japan’s banks were still shrinking lending.
“The Bank of Japan, believing it had perhaps just lacked imagination, doubled M1 money supply again, this time over the much shorter period of two to three years from 2001.”
This is roughly equivalent to the Fed spending not $1 trillion to buy up Treasury paper, but $10 trillion.
“Yet the impact on Japanese bank lending was…nothing,” James continues. “Bank lending continued to fall by 5%-6% a year, as it had done for the prior three years.”
James lived in Japan for many years. He reports that when the Japanese economy finally began to pick up in 2006, the government became very concerned that all that money it had put into circulation would suddenly turn into consumer price inflation. But it didn’t happen. Instead, the little flower of growth was crushed in the downturn of ’07-’08…and now Japanese prices seem to be headed down again.
How come? Are the Japanese particularly incompetent? Or is it harder to weaken your currency than we thought?
We don’t know…so we will turn to Ian for further news while we think about it…
“The housing swan dive continues today,” writes Ian Mathias.
“U.S. home prices have been reduced to levels unseen since 2003, says the latest rendition of the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index. Yesterday’s printing capped off 2008 with another record decline.
“December data showed a 19.2% yearly fall for their 10 city composite and a 18.5% slump for the 20 city – both records. This index has now fallen every month for two straight years.
“‘The broad downturn in the residential real estate market continues,’ says David M. Blitzer of S&P. ‘There are very few, if any, pockets of turnaround that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path…’
“We suspect this home price trend will continue in Case Shiller’s January and February reports,” continues Ian. “According the National Association of Realtors today, the median new home price fell to $200,900 in February. That’s a record 18% fall from the same time a year ago and the lowest level since 2003. Consider yesterday’s record fall in existing home prices, and it seems this trend is still alive and kicking.”


It would be much simpler for us if the world were set up in a more orderly and predictable way. But then, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Even the feds could control a simpleton’s world. What a dreary place that would be!
Still, ships’ compasses don’t intentionally lead us onto the rocks. More money = more inflation; that’s the rule. Besides, it’s not just a matter of money. The feds are clearly sowing the wind with their quantitative easing. They deserve to reap the whirlwind.
But wait…it’s inflation they WANT. Nature, in her wisdom, rarely gives a rascal what he wants. Instead, she gives him what he deserves. What then, do the feds deserve? We know their crime…what will be their punishment?
Ah ha! Maybe they deserve the doldrums…locked in irons, with no wind at all!
They want to lower the debt burden by instigating inflation. They want to increase the velocity of money – by lightening it up a little so people are eager to get rid of it. They want to get lenders lending, and consumers consuming – all eager to turn over their dollars as fast as possible. They want to shift the burden of losses from the people who made them to the people who didn’t. Well, what if the dollar doesn’t cooperate? What if it grows heavier? What if it seems more solid? And what if dollar-denominated debts sticks like tar to the people who incurred it?
Seems impossible, doesn’t it? And yet, that is what happened in the Land of Rising Sun.
Our hypothesis seemed so sure…so airtight. The feds have no alternative but to try to inflate the currency. Because it will reduce the debt load on consumers…and, not coincidentally, on the government too. It will also induce people to spend money, rather than save it. This will increase the velocity of money, which will have a further inspiring effect on animal spirits.
If at first they don’t succeed, the feds will try, try again. And sooner or later, they’ll get the inflation they desire – first in moderation, then in exaggeration.
But what if it doesn’t happen that way? What if the feds – and the entire debtor class – were tortured before they were finally killed? And what if we – those who think we know what is going on…and who are stacking up gold coins in our home safes in anticipation – are driven mad by deep corrections in the gold market? What if gold sinks to $600…and stays there for years?
What if the markets stay irrational for longer than any of us can stay solvent…first wiping out the bulls in a major new break in the stock market…then wiping out the bears with a major new break in the gold market?
And then, when we have all given up hope…and sold all our stocks…and all our gold…and are curled up in a corner, whimpering, clutching a handful of crumpled dollar bills, maybe then Mr. Market will feel sorry for us. Maybe he’ll finally come over and put us out of our misery…delivering the coup de grace of blow out inflation…a la Weimar or Harare?
Anything is possible. But there are major differences between Japan and the United States – and reasons to think that the U.S. feds might succeed where the Japanese feds failed. For the moment…we’ll keep our Dollar Crash Alert flag flying…and wait until tomorrow for further insights.
“It comes as no great surprise,” comments colleague Chris Mayer, “that the value of our money has done nothing but depreciate over the years.”
“So what are investors to do?
“First off, buy things. In a world in which paper depreciates, tangible assets will hold their value better. Unlike with paper, we can’t create oil reserves or clear land or find water by pressing a few buttons at the Fed. Tangible assets take time and labor to create.
“Secondly,” Chris advises, “buy gold and gold stocks. Gold is a commodity, but it is unique in its monetary heritage. It was money – in the sense that you could buy groceries with it – not that long ago, in the grand scheme of things. People are again flocking back to gold as the dollar’s prospects turn uglier. This move has a long way to go.
“Gold stocks are a more leveraged and riskier way to play the rise in gold. This year, in particular, sets up as a good one for gold, thanks to lower energy prices and currency effects.
“And finally, buy the stronger currencies or assets in stronger currencies. All paper currencies are on the long road to zero. But some are on a faster road than others.”
The current actions by the feds have the Chinese are worried…but their worry is that the feds may succeed in debasing the dollar. Here, they’re proposing a new monetary system…based on Special Drawing Rights (on gold) administered by the IMF. The country’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said as much in an essay, published earlier this week:
“The outbreak of the current crisis and its spillover in the world confronted us with the long existing but still unanswered question i.e., what kind of international reserve currency do we need to secure global financial stability and facilitate world economic growth, which was one of the purposes for establishing the IMF? There were various institutional arrangements in an attempt to find a solution, including the Silver Standard, the Gold Standard, the Gold Exchange Standard and the Bretton Woods system. The above issue, however, as the ongoing financial crisis demonstrates, is far from being solved, and has become even more severe due to the inherent weaknesses of the current international monetary system.
“Theoretically, an international reserve currency should first be anchored to a stable benchmark and issued according to a clear set of rules, therefore to ensure orderly supply; second, its supply should be flexible enough to allow timely adjustment according to the changing demand; third, such adjustments should be disconnected from economic conditions and sovereign interests of any single country. The acceptance of credit-based national currencies as major international reserve currencies, as is the case in the current system, is a rare special case in history. The crisis called again for creative reform of the existing international monetary system towards an international reserve currency with a stable value, rule-based issuance and manageable supply, so as to achieve the objective of safeguarding global economic and financial stability…”
Finally, so many sideshows… Madoff, AIG bonuses, Geithner…and tax havens. Here at The Daily Reckoning, we’ve never met a tax cut we didn’t like…or a tax haven where we didn’t want to have money.
But the world’s governments are cracking down. They don’t like it when people get away…so they’re raising the walls and electrifying the windows. Tax havens are for tax cheats, they say. Tax havens are being abused, they go on.
In a better world, of course, there would be no need for open doors. People would be happy where they were. They would stay put…and turn over however much of their money to the government as its functionaries requested. But occasionally, something goes wrong. Occasionally, people are unhappy – and with very good reason. So it was that German trade unionists and Jews turned to Swiss banks in the 1930s – to protect themselves from getting robbed by the Nazi regime. The Germans asked the Swiss to divulge the names of its account holders. The Swiss said they would not. Bank secrecy was introduced in Switzerland in 1934 so that Swiss bank managers would have to reply in the negative, and the law prohibited them from revealing their clients names.
Now, of course, everything is different. All the world’s governments are good. And they are all working for the benefit of their citizens…except AIG bosses, of course. Now that the rapture has arrived, we have no further need of open doors or secret bank accounts.

Liberty Gone

Save Free Markets, Ruin Liberties?
Remember when the former President Bush said in the fall of 2008 that he needed to suspend free market principles in order to save the free market system? Well, now Angela Merkel, the German chancellor has been quoted as saying, “The excesses of the market that triggered this crisis are forcing us to cross borders and do things we would not normally do.”

Sounds familiar, as does Germany’s new €50bn Keynesian-style stimulus package... as do lower approval ratings of the new U.S. administration and Merkel's own CDU party.

Governments enforce laws, regulate commerce and allocate taxpayer funds. They also force themselves on the markets, creating inefficiencies in the process (and the allocation process is the definition of inefficiency). But these days, deflation magnifies these inefficiencies into deficiencies – to the point where the declining social mood (deflation’s main driving force) and the subsequently falling market confidence lead to political pressure to “right the wrongs.”

However, government is ill-equipped to correct that which cannot be corrected via regulation and increased spending. Over the past decade, individuals and corporations spent too much, borrowed too much and then leveraged that debt – the same debt that is now being destroyed by deflation. Spending money on behalf of your citizens, inefficiently or otherwise, does nothing to stimulate the economy – when the economy remains buried under the debt from the previous cycle.

Unemployment rises, incomes are lost, frozen or declining, and tax revenue diminishes as deficit spending increases. It becomes clear that governments do not have the way to ameliorate the situation, so the inevitable result is populism, protectionism and extremism. That’s why we are starting to see a number of political grandstanding measures designed to give the appearance of “doing something.”

In the U.S., it’s witch hunts on bonuses and the government’s push to increase its regulatory and confiscatory powers. In Europe, Albert Rupprecht, German parliamentary committee chairman, wants hearings on the causes and the individuals behind the financial crisis. He wants to pick the members of this council, he wants subpoena powers, and he wants any findings outside the legal framework to somehow gain evidentiary substance within criminal proceedings.

I would suggest that all this is dangerous extremism. While we seek those “responsible” for our financial problems, we find that our liberties are eroding as fast as our economies.

We The People Stimulus Package

Good video and worth you time!

Bread Lines? Soup Kitchens Too!

Y'Know, I Need A Beer Right Now......

Liberty Under the (Wrong) Influence

by Jim Amrhein
“There can't be good living where there is not good drinking.”– Benjamin Franklin
“Good people drink good beer.”– Hunter S. Thompson
I’m writing this on St. Patrick’s Day, a day that’s been my own personal “first day of spring” every year since I turned 21.
And unlike some similar days in my youth, I’ll be in good enough shape to remember it all come Wednesday morning as you read this. Of course, this has more to do with having been born in the century of the automobile than having been installed myself with a large measure of temperance as original equipment…
If you didn’t turn every $1000 you invested last year into 113 GRAND, you really need to give me the next five minutes of your time...As the Dow lost 40% of its value in 2008, one unorthodox analyst steered his readers to optimized one-year gains of 6,635%, 10,838%, and 11,359%.Here’s how to get eight months worth of his biggest gainers for 2009 FREE...
I assure you: If I lived within walking distance of the ersatz Irish pub I’ll spend the better part of tonight in (or been born in horseback times, when I could travel at no one’s peril but my own), I’d likely remember very little of this year’s Hibernian high jinks. Also, what you’re reading now wood bee spelt sumpthing lyke dis — because I would have written it under the lingering enchantments of Harp lager and Powers whiskey, alternating between whichever eye was clearest at the moment.
But since I won’t ride a horse to the pub — nor have I any wish to put my fellow man at risk while behind the wheel of my Jeep — I’ll maintain relative clarity tonight as I raise a wee pint or two. And amid all the laughter and the clink of glasses, the posturing of men for women and the hair-tossing of women for men, the bustle of the barkeeps and the band’s Celtic rhythms, I’ll surely flash on the same lamentable realization I’ve had in many of the thousand or so evenings I’ve spent in taverns over the last 19 years:
Not nearly enough Americans can be charged with DWI nowadays.
Drinking While Informed: A 21st Century Crime
It used to be that taverns were the main venues of everyday political discourse in America. In the days before newspapers issued us our ideologies along with their spin on current events that supported it, the local watering hole was where folks gathered to figure out how to interpret the news of the day...
And decide what to do about it — whether to resist unfair taxation by an overseas monarch, whether to secede from the Union, whether to form a workers’ union, whether to build a bomb shelter or dodge the draft, whom to vote for, whom to give money to, or whom to tar and feather.
It used to be that a lot of people’s opinions about major forces affecting the country and community were formed, more or less, by two things: What newspapers reported, and what folks at the local tavern said about it. Taverns were where people went not just to unwind, play a game of darts or pool, catch up with friends, expand their dating options, or blow their paychecks...

They were places people went to make up their minds about the bigger things.
Taverns are microcosms of the free market — both of liberties and of ideas. And many a pivotal plan, innovative invention, or significant action in American history was launched over pints and drams at the local hooch joint. I don’t have a time machine or anything, but it wouldn’t take one for a person to conclude that the Boston Tea Party was hatched in the dark back corner of some Beantown pub...
And I’ll bet attendance boomed in New York taverns during the dissemination of the Federalist Papers. There was lots to talk about, mull over and decide. And the place to do it, no doubt, was the local pub.
One might not be too far off in saying that America owes its existence to the tavern.
Again, I’m no historian, but I’d bet anything I’ve got that without the proliferation of neighborhood watering holes in the colonies, the American Revolution would never have happened. Taverns were most certainly a place where resolves were stiffened, pacts were made between men to defend their land and neighbors, intelligences about British troop movements were whispered amongst the rebellious — and militias were recruited and organized.
And during Prohibition, I’m sure the main focus of a lot of speakeasy talk among the movers and shakers who still knew where to find a drink and a good time was centered on liberty — and what to do about the swing of America’s political pendulum toward the Puritanical...
But I’m here to tell you, as a habitué of the modern incarnations of such places, the topics that dominate the nightly discourse in most bars today aren’t political anymore. They’re reality TV, sports, the latest electronics, who’s hot and who’s not, or the habits of the opposite sex. The late-night music of the tavern is no longer the spirited debate about where we’re headed, but the latest dance-mix of the latest rap star.
Even in the yearlong run-up to the election of Barack Obama, few bar-goers I encountered talked with much depth about the goings-on in D.C. — or even in the local legislature. This is mind-boggling, especially in the wake of the 2008 ban on smoking in bars here in Maryland, the recent hikes in sales, property and income taxes, and with decisions pending about key gambling legislation...
Sure, there were plenty of people this fall who voiced their support for one presidential candidate or another (especially Obama), but few could tell me why they were voting the way they were. Their decisions seemed knee-jerk or nose-led, rather than arrived at through reflective thought and deep debate.
And lately, though I do hear quite a bit of discussion about the stock market and real estate, I usually get little more than a few grunts or a headshake or two over things like the Madoff scam and the bailouts. Talk of central banking usually draws blank stares...
But bring up American Idol and whoa, Nelly — you’ll have hours of deep “discourse.”
I attribute the tendency among modern bar-goers away from political substance and toward the most vapid and mundane lowest-common-denominator topics to one of four things, or a mixture of them all:
1) People don’t know what’s going on, thus hindering cogent thought about it.
2) They know what’s going on, but believe that they can’t do anything about it.
3) They think the government will look after them, so they don’t care what’s going on.
4) They view the bar as a place to escape what’s going on, not figure it out or change it.
None of these things portend well for our republic, at least not as it was intended to be. This is a real shame, because Drinking While Informed — the combination of people, alcohol, discontent, passion and information — is historically a powerful catalyst for change in America.
And boy, are we ever going to need that now...

The Pint-and-Dram Union: An American Institution
My point with all this isn’t to romanticize drunken barroom debating. It’s to lament the decline of one of America’s most powerful (and unsung) institutions:
The tavern as a safeguard against the intrusions and abuses of government.
Believe me, the power of blogs and newspaper editorials and fringe-press loudmouths like me to protect freedom and sway political outcomes pales in comparison to the might of large numbers of outraged people assembled in one place and with the firm belief in their own righteousness — whether fueled by alcohol or not...
Seriously, a blog or chat room never tarred and feathered anybody.
And yes, I know, drunken mobs have done all manner of bad things.
All I’m saying is that there used to be things that politicians in this country feared. One of them was the archaic life-and-limb stuff that no one today would advocate (like tarring and feathering or being forced to drink hot tea)...
But the other is an informed, thoughtful, skeptical and united populace that sees through their BS and corruption and is determined to hold them to account, one way or another.
This is something Americans can still become — but not if they’re under the influence of the one-party media or cocooned up in their homes ranting in the vast, anonymous blogosphere. And certainly not if they’re obsessed with American Idol...
It takes people getting together, loosening their inhibitions, plainly stating what they know and believe — then building on this knowledge and testing these beliefs against the facts and feelings others bring to the free marketplace of ideas. This is the kind of “influence” that changes worlds for the better.
And it’s what usedto happen every night in American taverns. It still should...
I think it has to, if we want to survive this mess.
Thinking and imbibing,

Big Financial Waves! Surf's Up!

Huge Inflation
What an absurd old world we live in. The Bank of England is worried about deflation, but only so it can justify the massive inflation it’s cooking up. Barack Obama is outraged about US$165 million in bonuses at AIG and will use all legal means to stop them. Like he doesn’t have anything better to do. Here in Australia, local shares will probably follow New York’s lead and head down. Stocks on Wall Street finished up four days in a row, but couldn’t make it five. There was no Earth-shattering earnings news. That left plenty of room for grandstanding and other chicanery.
Before we get to the chicanery, what’s shaking in the local market? The banks were up. Australia’s banks never had the chance to gorge themselves on the stuff that’s choking their counterparts in Europe and North America. They were stuck, instead, with large portfolios of residential mortgages. Plus, you can’t short sell them anyway. So how low could they go?
Markets are still in a kind of suspended animation, waiting to see if there is any coherent, intelligent, effective response by the financial players or their regulators to...you know...solve the problems. It could be a long wait.

All hole and no donut. That about sums up the response of the economists and officials trying to un-freeze credit markets and get the economy going. Why on Earth is the President of the United States taking time to sort out how much people at AIG get paid? Probably because he wants to distract attention away from how much money he plans to spend, and spend ineffectively.
Look, there’s Elvis! Hey king!
That’s what distractions are, attempts to change the subject or divert focus.
Distract from what? Huge inflation. Yes. Yes. We know. There is no huge inflation now. In fact, industrial production in the United States fell for the fourth month in a row. It hasn’t been this low since 2002. But then, why would output grow when demand is falling and credit remains tight?
Money supply is not falling. Yet the good people who write the Bank of England’s Quarterly Bulletin are still warning of a “debt deflation trap.” You’ll find all the good stuff beginning on page 39. The Bank warns that the cost of debts is rising relative to everything else, making it harder for heavily indebted Britons to pay off debts. Britons are, by the way, heavily indebted.
But are falling prices really so inherently evil? Really...whoever complained about a cheaper cheeseburger? When was the last time you bellyached about the ever-declining price of a pint of beer?
The Bank study resurrects the last period of sustained deflation and connects it with the economic misery of the times, in the 1930s. Then, too, output collapsed. The world’s productive capacity far exceeded its demand. And money supply, for a time, briefly shrank as banks (who create most of the money in the fiat system) went out of business.
But all of this talk about the evil of falling prices is just a ruse. Excess capacity exists because the preceding inflationary bubble helped build factories to produce goods sold to people who bought them with credit. The demand was illusory. Unfortunately, the factories were real...it took real labour, real energy, and real raw materials to build them. They remained idle and unproductive unstill something else came along (World War Two) to reignite demand and the need for wartime production.
Falling prices aren’t inherently evil. If prices fall low enough, low cost producers of a given good or service are driven out of business. Supply tightens. Prices rise.
No...what the BoE and the Fed are doing is evoking the nightmare of the Depression to justify the coming inflation. The fiat money system can’t function without just a little inflation. The gradual erosion of purchasing power is what makes it unnoticeable and thus tolerable to private citizens. They don’t really notice it 2-3% at a time.

The trouble for the global system now is the tower of debts looming over the public and private sector in many economies. It’s all well and good if the general price level falls. But it’s no good if, while asset values like stocks and homes fall, debts remain fixed. An increase in the preference for cash makes debts a lot harder to pay off.
Of course, as you know by now, the preferred government answer is to inflate. This is what made the Chinese nervous last week as they reviewed Obama’s budget. But the BoE and the Fed have been quite clear about their intentions. They will inflate as much as they need to in order to get nominal asset prices stable.
There are some investors who buy the Fed’s bogus line that it can withdraw liquidity and sterilize its money printing before it leads to inflation in the economy. Believing this is a serious mistake that could cost you a lot of money.
The hedge against these inflationary policies (including here in Australia) is to invest in assets priced in dollars which cannot be created by a printing press. That includes oil, precious metals, and other energy commodities. The nominal price of these assets should rise as the money supply rises.

Not That There's Any Good In It.....................

The Problem with Socialism
by Bill Jenkins
Havre de Grace, Maryland
As I read the headlines, I can't help but see the tendrils of socialism grasping more and more very day. And it always brings to mind my uncle, Wm. R. Duvall.
When I was a boy, my uncle was the richest man I knew. He was fond of saying, ""There are three things you need to get rich: time, leverage and other people's money." I didn't know what it meant at the time, but when I got older, I wanted to hear how he made it big
"I always knew I would be rich," he said. "Even when I didn't have two nickels to rub together."
He started out as a barber, renting a chair in another man's shop for $20 a week. "10 heads," he said, "that's all I needed. After that, every dollar was mine."
"At that point," he remarked, "all I had was time. I was making money, but I wasn't getting rich." It finally occurred to him that a real way to get ahead in barbering was to have his own shop and rent out his own chairs to other guys who were getting started in the barbering business.
So he looked high and low until he found a dumpy old place where he could afford the rent, then spent his nights and weekends fixing it up.
In a couple months, he had it ready and went to work. He rented out the five chairs in the shop while he still worked at the same chair he had rented for several years. "It seemed like a risky idea to leave the spot where my customers were used to coming," he told me.
Unfortunately, after a year, his landlord realized how good the business was and forced my uncle out. "What a setback," he said. "All these customers and nowhere to go."
His first thought was to look for a new place to rent. But then he was hit with a stroke of genius: "Own my own place, and I can't get kicked out again!" It only took him a handful of days to locate what would become his goldmine: 3 acres of land with a corner shop and two houses.
He set out his shingle in the shop, bought a trailer for $150 and moved it onto the back of the property, then rented the two little houses. He had talked the owners into selling him the whole ball of wax with 100% financing over 10 years. After he got his extra chairs rented out and moved another trailer onto the property, he was flush with cash. In the end, the property was paid off in eight years. But in the meantime he dabbled in other real estate, left the country and bought a house in Cancun where he lived as a tour guide. Years later he came back and bought a beachfront house on a local river, where he lived until just recently.
"Everybody gets the same amount of time, Billy," he would often say.
"But that's not enough to get you to the top of the heap." His experience with collecting the rent from four other barbers showed him the power of leverage. His no-money-down real estate deal taught him about other people's money. And I imagine he probably watched a boatload of late-night infomercials that helped formulate his "Wealth Outline."
I have come to find that what he said (even though it was completely borrowed and not original) held a great deal of truth.
But up to this point, you're probably wondering what in the world this has to do with socialism. Seems like a pretty entrepreneurial story.
Right? You are correct.
Seeing the proper working of a man and his wealth, well, that makes a counterfeit all the more easily spotted. But we could add to that story our own little adventure in currency options. The same three principles are at work. Time, leverage and other peoples' money.
But the path to wealth through socialism is not so clearly seen. As a matter of fact, it is more like a path to nowhere. Because socialism denies the capitalistic importance of these four pillars: wealth, time, leverage and other people's money. Instead, they corrupt them to their own destructive ends.
Any socialist will tell you wealth is important. As a matter of fact, that is the big carrot held out to entice people to follow such a muddleheaded plan. They will also tell you that time is important. Not because you need it to build wealth, but because you need it to spend wealth. In other words, the here-and-now is what is of the utmost importance. And you must be rich now, in order to enjoy what time you have here!
Leverage is also important to the socialist. As poor men manage their wealth very poorly (but seem to know instinctively how to manage their ballot), it is imperative to leverage out the efforts of the poor man into large voting blocks. One poor man cannot get a candidate into office. But 100,000 of them, that's a horse of a different color.
Finally, we have the socialist's take on other people's money. They love it. They covet it. And they'll do anything to get it. Obviously it is impossible to enrich the poor men who voted for them with the candidate's own money. This is why other people's money is so critically important. Unfortunately for them, they have forgotten the words of U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who said, "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Whether she actually believed that or not is a question for another day. But it still has the ring of an eternal truth.
My uncle's understanding of other people's money was that it could be used to make money for himself. And he was right. But here is a key difference. The "other people" in my uncle's life lent him that money VOLUNTARILY, not because they were coerced. And they expected a real cash return on their funds, not just the "warm feeling" that comes from being forced to help an indolent person by way of government-run charity!
Because socialists reward those who treat money poorly and penalize those who treat money well, the system will never work. True, advocates of wealth redistribution can point to circumstances where it did "work," and where it does "work" from time to time (if only for a limited time). But I can also point to circumstances where the laws of gravity are temporarily suspended, such as when I get on a plane.
But even God will not help me if I just assume because I can fly for a few hours from here to there that I can fly forever. At some point my plane has to come back to the ground. At some point the laws of gravity will resume their authority, and I will realize that my flight and my violation of gravity's laws are coming to an end.
Capitalism is a law established by God, just like gravity. Its foundation is in the 9th Commandment, "Thou shalt not covet." I am never free to desire to take what is my neighbor's. Not his wife. Not his house. Not his lands. Not his possessions. I can trade him for them if I have something he wants more than what he has. (Except his wife, of course...) I can buy them from him if my offer is right. But I cannot steal (or vote) away his property into my account. That is not wealth creation; it is merely re-distribution. God condemns it, and He will not be mocked by those who think that they can make socialism "fly" forever.
Eventually, they will run out of other people's money. And when they do, their plane will come crashing to the ground.
One more thing. All around us, we see the widespread push toward more socialism, even when it hasn't yet worked. How could that be? To explain what we are seeing currently, we must acknowledge that if the socialists manage to escape complete annihilation in the plane that they wreck, they will begin a campaign of propaganda, reminding the people that if only the free market force of gravity hadn't gotten involved, they would have been successful. And that all they need is more fuel (other people's money) to get the thing going again.
And, of course, the people will see the wisdom of their case, and will vote for more fuel or parts or anything, just so long as we don't let those stupid Gravitarians have control of the cockpit.
More groundbreaking efforts will be tried, such as debasing the fuel, so that we have more of it. Sure, if you add five gallons of water to five gallons of gasoline you get 10 gallons... Certainly we can go further on twice as much fuel, right? Yeah, Right. Whatever you say, Comrade. Meanwhile, anybody who knows better had better be preparing a parachute.
As the major nations of the world move deeper and deeper into the "Pit of Despair" (to borrow a good term from The Princess Bride), their solutions will work less and less. Each effort will become more and more futile. Perhaps then we will learn our lessons. If not we will be doomed to repeat them.
All that being said, we did have a big news item from last week.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao fired a shot across the bow of the Good Ship USS Treasury.
It was not just a request, and it was not couched in the tactfulness of political diplomats.
China warned the United States to "Keep its word." Seems that the Moral Empire of America has a hard time with the bad habits of lying and stealing.
And now the rest of the world knows it.
And now we know that the Chinese know it.
And we know that we need their lending to keep up our little charade.
And they know we need their lending.
Now they are telling us, do not fool with our investments. China has options of where to put their money. What options do we have? How many nations can lend us the amounts we are consuming? China has options. We don't. "The borrower is servant to the lender."

The Art Of Finance

Taipan Daily: China, the Fed and Financial MADness Revisited

by Justice Litle

Well, they did it. They pulled out the big guns – and caught the world by surprise.
The Financial Times called it “shock and awe,” further adding that “Federal Reserve plan stuns investors.”
A Seeking Alpha contributor suggested that “Helicopter Ben” (as in Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve) should have his nickname changed to “ICBM Ben,” as in Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile.
MarketWatch elected to play it straight in their headlines: “Treasury yields drop most since 1987,” they said, following that up with “Dollar plunges after Fed says it will buy Treasuries.”
Not only did the dollar plunge, but gold moved sharply higher at the same time on Wednesday – thus breaking the remarkably odd coupling that had persisted these past few months.
Wall Street’s Shameful Secret RevealedDid you know Wall Street has a “dirty little secret” that keeps THEM rich and YOU poor? Inside this Special Exposé, you’ll hear from a fed-up former insider who wants to help YOU even the score with a guaranteed chance at 371% gains by May 1, 2009. Read on for all the details…
In addition to its role as an inflation barometer, gold is a form of crisis insurance. Meanwhile U.S. government bonds (which one must pay for with dollars) are a form of deflation insurance.
And so, when gold and the dollar are rising simultaneously, the global economy is in a world of hurt. To see gold and the greenback break apart now – like two temporarily fused magnets returning to opposite polarity – thus might well note the end of the global deflation trade.
A week ago, we noted that something like this could happen. Those who expected deflation to persist had forgotten that “the Fed has not gone crazy yet” (See March 13 piece, Is Gold on “Deflationary Death Watch”? ).
We can also dial back a little further, to the January 7 Taipan Daily titled, “Don’t Stay Short Treasuries – Short the Dollar Instead,” and find this little nugget:
If the Fed intervenes to support treasuries (in order to keep interest rates low), they will do so at the expense of the greenback. The Fed has to print dollars, or otherwise release dollars, in order to buy USTs in the open market.
And so they did. As bonds soared, the dollar crashed. To defeat the deflationary Mothra once and for all, Ben Bernanke has sounded the Godzilla call.
Solving a Mystery
I’ll admit, Bernanke had me fooled for a bit. He fooled a lot of people with his dormancy. Though the Fed hinted at buying treasuries in December of 2008, enough time had passed that it looked like they wouldn’t do it after all.
In Macro Trader (my trading service), the Fed’s bold move caught us by surprise – as it caught most everyone by surprise – but fortunately we were already short the dollar and long hard assets (including oil and gold) via various instruments when the big announcement went down. (We are still making hay from those positions, and just yesterday booked 92% half profits on our bearish dollar play.)
So why did the Fed decide to go for the gusto (and trash the dollar in the process)? Why now, this week? What follows is an excerpt from the “Weekly Briefing” I send out on Thursdays to Macro Trader members:
Let’s be clear, this move was a total shock. “Nobody expected such explicit stuff,” portfolio manager Joseph Balestrino said. “It’s good news for markets but bad news because it means the other stuff isn’t working. Things are terrible by the Fed’s own admission.”
But if things were terrible, why had stocks been rallying? After all, markets had seemed to be improving on their own before the Fed’s big move.
INVESTMENT RESOURCES
The banks had already rallied hard... stocks were already going back up... and the Consumer Price Index rose in February by the highest amount in seven months.
So it was exceedingly strange for the Fed to engage in this “shock and awe” treasury buying exercise after so many signs of improvement had already been coming in.
There are a few theories as to why the Fed acted out of the blue, stunning investors the way they did:
1) Ben Bernanke knows something truly awful about the banks that no one else does... yet... and decided to get ahead of the curve by buying up USTs now.
2) The Fed was afraid that public outrage at the AIG bonuses had become so strong that no more bailout money would be forthcoming from Congress. Buying treasuries thus became the alternative.
3) Foreign purchases of U.S. Treasuries were starting to dry up, and the lack of buyers for future treasury issues looked ominous.
Of those three options, we can only guess which is right of course... but my vote is for number three.
Debt watchers who pay attention to the supply and demand flow for treasuries note that recent numbers looked “horrible.” Economist and blogger Brad Setser further noted this week that “foreign demand for long-term Treasuries has faded.”
This makes sense. The global exporters no longer have huge trade surpluses to recycle back into U.S. Treasury bonds. Newly optimistic investors are buying fewer Treasury bonds. China is electing to spend its cash horde in different spots around the globe, going on a natural resource buying spree, and has less money for Treasury bonds anyway now that it isn’t exporting as much.
And so, the Fed may well have felt the need to preemptively position itself as a buyer of last resort for treasuries BEFORE something really ugly happened.
Financial MADness
So that’s my guess... the Fed chose to act aggressively, at what seemed to be an odd time, because they feared the bottom was about to fall of the U.S. government bond market.
Sort of a perverse logic, really. Things were looking so weak in Treasury land, emergency actions led to a short-term boost of colossal strength.
China may have had a role to play in the Fed’s actions too. Is it a coincidence that just last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao voiced that he was “very worried” about the safety of China’s UST holdings?
To explore that angle, let’s go way, WAY back now – all the way to May 2005.
Nearly four years ago, I wrote a piece for the Daily Reckoning called “Financial MADness.” (You can still pull that piece up here.) What follows is the relevant excerpt. (Note too that four years on, the $600 billion figure has morphed into $1.9 trillion or so, an estimated two-thirds of that being U.S. treasuries.)
As of year-end 2004, China had more than $600 billion in U.S. dollar reserves. That is a sum that could effectively tear the financial plumbing system apart if it were unceremoniously dumped on the markets. With such massive pressure, in a compressed period of time, the pipes would surely burst. Of course, this would be fiscal suicide for the dumpers as well, which is precisely why such a move is not feared. China’s own economy would be sucked into the vortex too, so why would the Chinese put a gun to their own heads?
The theme that applies here is the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, or MAD – but of the financial sort, rather than the nuclear.
A product of the 1950s, the doctrine of MAD essentially states that two parties with the capacity to destroy each other will recognize the folly of hostilities. We liquidate the Soviet Union, they liquidate us and nobody wins. So peace is assured, right? Wrong. The flaw in the theory comes in the form of a question: What happens if one side or the other is thrown into political turmoil, or if the reins are taken over by madmen with nothing to lose?
A Communist Party leadership on the edge of collapse would make a last-ditch bid for stability by any means necessary, which in turn would make it willing to contemplate the financial-Armageddon option, as a form of extreme blackmail, if its hand were forced. If the mandarins feared implosion, they would have the means to not just ask for extraordinary coordination from the United States and Japan, but to demand it… on pain of catastrophic consequences if they were allowed to fall.
But is this a point in favor of the optimists or the pessimists? Obviously, it’s not a pleasant thought to imagine a breakdown in China’s economy sparking massive civil unrest, in turn leading to a “hot war” with Taiwan as a means of distraction and a catalyst for unifying nationalism, which by extension draws in the United States and sets the stage for the grand finale: the financial equivalent of a hydrogen bomb going off as hostilities escalate out of control.
Fun stuff eh? That whole line of thought was basically back-burnered for four years, as the good times rolled on and China’s economy powered along with it.
But now, the seats at the top of China’s leadership pyramid are starting to look shaky again. The doctrine of Financial MADness has become newly relevant – as the Fed’s unprecedented intervention in the treasury market may have shown.
Bicycles and Tables
Meanwhile, global markets are showing clear signs of recovery – for now – but China’s ability to maintain stability and growth has become an open question. Minxin Pei, an associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wonders openly whether China’s Communist Party will “survive” the crisis.
Until recently, most leading China watchers thought the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had become remarkably resilient... Because of the global economic crisis, however, Beijing is in trouble. The problems are numerous: China's exports are plummeting, tens of millions of migrant laborers have lost their jobs, millions of college graduates cannot find employment, industrial overcapacity is threatening deflation, and the once red-hot real estate sector has nose-dived. The country's faltering growth is posing the hardest test yet to the CCP's resilience.
As financial blogger David Merkel has observed, there is a difference between “table stability” and “bicycle stability.” Table stability implies a solid situation in the absence of change. Bicycle stability implies that things have to keep moving forward.
A table, in other words, can just sit there. But as soon as the bicycle stops, it falls over. In China’s case, one might say it’s the bicycle factories that have to keep moving forward... lest the whole social order fall over as millions of angry Chinese protest against the permanent disappearance of their jobs.
Why the U.S. government is ready to hand you a check for $62,881…On January 15th, Congress revealed the contents of a highly secret document that’s about to change the face of American energy.Page 88 of this 258-page draft gives the details of a $160 billion mega-deal that looks to launch a wave of payouts for as much as $62,881.The problem is… almost no one knows how to collect the payments.
Intriguing Maneuvers
Make no mistake – Beijing still sits on a mountain of cash. More than half a trillion bucks’ worth of stimulus is wending its way into the system, and there is plenty more dough where that came from in the form of Chinese reserves.
Whether those cash reserves will be enough to keep China growing is the real question. The possibility that it won’t be enough is what keeps the mandarins awake at night... and possibly leaning hard on the Fed.
Your humble editor wonders, too, whether China’s recent commodity-buying spree and the Fed’s treasury-buying binge could have a secret hidden connection. Consider this nugget from The Washington Post:
Chinese companies have been on a shopping spree in the past month, snapping up tens of billions of dollars' worth of key assets in Iran, Brazil, Russia, Venezuela, Australia and France in a global fire sale set off by the financial crisis.
The deals have allowed China to lock up supplies of oil, minerals, metals and other strategic natural resources it needs to continue to fuel its growth.
Could it be that China knew in advance the Fed was going to step in and buy Treasuries – a friendly “heads up” from one government to another, or even a negotiated arrangement of sorts?
Could it further be that Chinese officials knew the dollar would crash on such Fed actions... a crash telegraphed to them but few others... and thus decided to step up their hard asset buying BEFORE the big event, with the foreknowledge that commodities were set to catch a bid?
Hmm...
However complex this web of intrigue might be, the charts at least are fairly straightforward. With the dollar folding like a cheap tent, China writing fat checks around the globe, and major commodities like oil and copper working out a clear bottoming process, hard assets look like an easy buy.

The Power to Tax is the Power to Destroy

We watched in dismay as the unemployment numbers soared again last Friday — a massive loss of 651,000 jobs in February. Thank God it was a short month...
But let’s put this into perspective. In December, the non-farm payroll (NFP) figure was 577,000 jobs lost. In January, the NFP figure was a worsening 598,000 jobs lost. Then in February, 651,000 jobs lost. But that incredible decline is not the whole story.

The December numbers were revised to 684,000 — an additional 107,000 jobs lost. January’s number was also revised, up to 655,00 — an additional 57,000 jobs lost. What are the odds that the brutal February numbers are going to stand pat or get better? As I have said many times, some people have a vested interest in controlling (manipulating) these report numbers. A certain amount of fear is useful among the populace in the midst of a crisis.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel said, “You never want a serious crisis go to waste. This crisis [the economic turndown] provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed that thought by saying “never waste a good crisis” in Brussels as she droned on about climate change.
Just before his election, Barack Obama proclaimed, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Sadly, the fundamental change has already begun.
A New York Times reporter asked the president if he was a socialist. Obama dismissed it as a joke, but just a few hours earlier, Hugo Chavez, socialist president of Venezuela, invited Obama to, “Come with us on the road to socialism. This is the only path. Imagine a socialist revolution in the United States.”
Disgusting. Unnerving. Scary.
While a certain amount of fear may be helpful, panic and pandemonium would be absolutely counterproductive. I think it is in the government’s best interest at this point not to release the full damage in the employment market. Frankly, I am taking bets that the next set of jobless numbers will include a revision for this month that will put the February numbers at 725,000 jobs lost. That would put the official unemployment rate at just over 9%.
Of course, as it stands, we need to understand that the unemployment rate in and of itself is an average. The average figure is mitigated by categories on the lower end of the spectrum. For February, the lower categories of unemployment were Managerial and Professional Positions at 4.5% and 3.5% respectively. Not too disturbing...
But when we look at the other pieces of the puzzle, we see double-digit unemployment among Hispanics (10.9%), and African Americans (13.4%).
By broad category, we see the following unemployment news:
Construction workers — 22.0%
Farm and Forestry — 22.0%
Production — 13.7%
Transportation — 12.5%
These sectors will only continue to worsen, and they may in fact be worse already.
“So why,” do you ask, “are you going to such lengths to describe the gloominess of the situation?”
Today, it serves as the springboard for the commentary, and the lesson of the week.
John Marshall, Supreme Court Justice from 1801-35, left us this memorable quote: “The power to tax is the power to destroy.” It is well worth memorizing. But we are watching it at work all around us. Here is what it has to do with you and me.
When governments levy taxes, and there is some need to do so, they act as a parasite. Their modus operandi is to take, but never to create. The State’s real role is to be a negative influence, not a positive one. They are to inhibit evil on a personal level by constricting crimes against citizens. They are to inhibit evil on a federal level by acting against powers that would attack us.
Beyond there, expansions become positivistic. They become world improvements. Better roads. Better schools. Better commerce. Better parks. Better art. Better money. Better housing. Better health. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam.
The Biblical story of the Tower of Babel relates the efforts of the first State to improve its lot in life. “The people are one (of one mind — Ed.). And now nothing will be withheld from them which they have imagined to do.”

This is the State mantra: “Yes, we can!” And States imagine that they can do anything. All they need is a few more bucks and a few more taxpayers who think that what they want to do next is just the best idea since sliced bread. But what they (the taxpayers) forget is that the government is a net destroyer of wealth. In order to “create” anything, they must take wealth from whoever is currently holding it.
In our day we are seeing the net effects of taxing everything in sight...
When you tax a man’s income, his income goes down. The power to tax is the power to destroy.
When you tax a man’s income, you are taxing his employment. So unemployment rises and employment goes down. The power to tax is the power to destroy.
When you tax a man’s ability to work, he works less. True productivity goes down. The power to tax is the power to destroy.
When you tax a man’s work, you tax the chief source of his freedom. “Six days thou shalt labor...” The power to tax is the power to destroy.
You see, a government can tax all kinds of income for all kinds of reasons.
But not Liberty.
Freedom is beyond a government’s ability to control (although they will try!). Freedom comes from God. Our Creator endows men with certain unalienable rights. Among them is Liberty. When a government tries to tax Freedom, it moves to different shores. It packs up all its inestimable benefits and heads to lands where it will be treated better. Where it will get a better reception. Where people who have been enslaved too long hunger and yearn for its gifts. To citizens who are willing to lay down their lives to secure it and fight back the forces of bondage to keep it.
But we have forgotten such things. We are not the noble people we once were. Much of our citizenry is infected with indolence. Multitudes look to the State as the supplier of everything from soup to nuts, cradle to grave, and womb to tomb. You can see it in the faces of ordinary Joes when they light up at getting their “tax refund.” Forgetting the tremendous sum of money the state has already taken, they are just glad to “get something back.”
We have become a nation of slaves. Bound to the idea that the government will provide.
As we come up on the Easter season, it is customary in many homes to watch Cecil B. DeMile’s The Ten Commandments, his depiction of the freeing of God’s children from bondage and slavery. What he doesn’t show is how the people complained shortly after being freed that their lives were too hard. (Because living free isn’t easy.) They said to Moses that they would rather go back to Egypt. They’d rather be slaves.
Hunting for food. Finding water. All this was too much responsibility.
In Egypt, life was simple. Their taskmaster’s brought them food. Their slave-drivers brought them water. Their lords told them how many bricks to make. (And they were happy to have 100% employment!)
But the rigors of living free were just too much for them.
So it has become in our own day. Men would rather live in servitude to an all-providing State, reveling in their own laziness, than to take up the mantle of responsibility and live free.
That is true of many. But it is not true of all.
It is not true of me. I hope it is not true of you. And I suspect it isn’t. Otherwise we would never have found each other here.

But for the long run, the excessive taxing of wealth and the attempted taxing of Liberty does not bode well for our Motherland. A man reaps what he sows. So does the country in which he lives.
Days to come will find wealth following in the wake of Liberty — shifting to other quarters. We will begin looking for other opportunities in places where freedom reigns supreme. But for now we will have to work with what we have. Money will continue to flow into and out of the major currencies for a while yet.

Bill Bonner With A Gem

Yes We Can't!
By Bill Bonner
Paris, France

Free market capitalism is the "god that failed," writes Martin Wolf.
Thus does Financial Times lead off a feeble chorus of lament in its "Future of Capitalism" series. What do we do now? is the question. Can capitalism be tamed? Can it be harnessed? "Yes we can!" says America's president.
Richard Layard from the London School of Economics, offered a way
forward:
"We should stop the worship of money and create a more human society,"
he writes. "Happiness has not risen since the 1950s in the US or Britain," he points out, despite big increases in wealth. "Modern happiness research can help find answers," he believes.
"Old fashioned socialist planning is the only coherent alternative to a collapsing capitalist economy," an alert FT reader added.
Given the depth of these insights, we decided not to dive into this discussion headfirst. Instead, we will simply mock the swimmers from the bank. Brazil's president, Lula da Silva, for example, could only come up with a campaign slogan: "The future of human beings is what really matters." But who can blame them? They want a capitalism that makes people happy...fairer, gentler, greener... they want to reform it...to housebreak it...to cut its balls off so they can safely put it on a leash and introduce it to their daughters.
But they miss the point of it altogether: we can't reform capitalism; it reforms us. Capitalism punishes mistakes and rewards virtue (or good
luck) - not necessarily quickly or gently...but roughly and imperfectly, like a hanging judge in a frontier town. On paper, of course, we can do better. Imagine a world where public employees are saints and geniuses who do such a swell job of allocating capital we want for nothing. But then, when we get a chance to see them in action, we find that they are bigger rascals than the capitalists themselves.
This week, under pressure from its new proprietor - the U.S. government
- AIG released a list showing who had gotten more than $100 billion of its bailout money. At the top of the list of recipients was a familiar name - Goldman Sachs. In a truly astonishing co-incidence, Goldman is the firm that had been run by the very person who headed up the AIG rescue - former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. And what serendipity!
Lloyd Bankfein - Goldman's top man now - was actually in the room with the feds when the AIG rescue plan was put together.
In the room; in the deal. But the big scalawags ducked out of the press almost immediately. Instead, the headlines focused on the small fry.
AIG paid bonuses of $450 million - some charged it was $1 billion - to its executives. These guys shouldn't get bonuses, came the popular outcry; they should get a firing squad.
You'll recall the story. The insurance giant AIG lost money on a series of gambles. For example, it gambled that it could insure the mortgage payments of people who couldn't afford to buy a house. During the bubble years, people bought houses at outrageous prices. They could borrow 80% of the purchase price from government-backed debt mongers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Buyers were supposed to put up the other 20% themselves, giving lenders a margin of safety in case the transactions didn't work out as planned. But, if an insurance company would guarantee the other 20%, Fannie could cover 100% of this "enhanced" mortgage loan. AIG found that insuring this part of the loan was profitable - as long as nobody asked questions. But then the market price for the collateral dropped - by as much as 50% in some areas.
Suddenly, people were walking away from their houses. Defaults on these "enhanced" loans ran at 5 times the rates on normal Fannie-backed mortgages.
An ordinary person would look at these facts and pronounce the same judgment as the capitalist market: AIG and Fannie both deserve to go broke. But give him enough higher education in the economics department, or a job in government, and the fool rushes in --with someone else's money.
In the theory of bailouts, an ailing firm is given a helping hand when it needs it. This gives it time to get back on its feet, and prevents it from dragging down its employees, lenders, investors and counterparties. But what actually happens is much simpler. Money is goes from the pocket of the person who earned it...to the pocket of someone who didn't...from the innocent bystander to the fellow who caused the accident. Capitalism takes money away from erring capitalists; the capitalism improvers give it back to them.
And who decides who gets the loot? Ah...as soon as you hold them up to the light, the angels' wings fall off. By and large, these are the same cherubim and seraphim - such as Hank Paulson - who were supposed to be leading...regulating...and controlling capitalism when it ran into a ditch. Not a single one raised a warning. Instead, they whooped for the free market and passed the whiskey bottle to the driver! And now, thanks to their bailouts, AIG continues writing insurance against mortgage loans. Seventy-three AIG executives continue getting $1 million bonuses. A long line of reckless counterparties goes unpunished. And Hank Paulson offers advice to Financial Times readers on how to make capitalism work better.
But that is always the problem with improving capitalism...even in the slapstick American way. The reformers promise a 'new deal,' but they've always got an ace up their sleeve somewhere.

The Crisis Is Getting Notice In The Mainstream Now

Bank crisis spawns new kind of gold rush
2009 recession and banking crisis has set off a rush to invest in gold and other precious metals at unprecedented levels

DAVID PARKINSON
From Friday's Globe and Mail
March 20, 2009 at 1:00 AM EDT
In 1897, at the height of a major U.S. recession and banking crisis, a gold discovery on the Klondike River in Yukon Territory triggered one of the biggest gold rushes ever seen. Now, more than a century later, history is – sort of – repeating itself.
No, the world's downtrodden aren't beating a frenzied path to a harsh, remote swath of the Canadian north this time around. But the 2009 recession and banking crisis has set off a rush to invest in gold and other precious metals at unprecedented levels – a move that has tightened the global supply/demand picture and helped push prices to record highs. And increasingly, they are opting for the tangible comfort of physical gold – actual gold bars and coins that they can cling to in troubled times.
“When the banking crisis hit [last fall], we saw an avalanche of demand,” said James DiGeorgia, a Florida-based coin and precious metals dealer and editor of the Gold & Energy Advisor newsletter. “People are scared to death that all this debt [being taken on by governments] is going to debase the [U.S.] dollar and other currencies around the world.”
Data from the World Gold Council show that while demand for gold for industrial, dental and jewellery purposes fell 10 per cent in 2008, net purchases of physical gold for investment purposes jumped 64 per cent to 1,091 tonnes. In the fourth quarter – as the U.S. banking crisis reached new depths – net gold investment volumes surged 182 per cent from a year earlier. As a result of the boom in investment demand, overall gold demand rose 4 per cent last year, further widening the annual supply shortfall in the gold market.
“These dramatic retail investment inflows reflect the extreme uncertainty that surrounds the global economy and financial system,” the World Gold Council said. “In an environment where investors are more concerned about the loss of capital than they are about the return on capital, the absence of default risk or counterparty risk has been a key attraction for gold.”
Experts say the soaring price for gold – up 30 per cent since the end of October, at the same time the MSCI World stock index has lost almost 20 per cent – has created a bandwagon effect for investment in precious metals. But behind that have been some legitimate concerns – about global economic and financial market instability, and the possible inflationary ramifications of the rising government debts being incurred to rescue the world economy – that have sent investors to gold as a stable safe haven for their money, and a way to diversify their portfolios away from other more risky asset classes.
Yesterday, gold for April delivery surged $69.70 (U.S.) to settle at $958.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold-backed exchange-traded funds – an increasingly popular vehicle for gold exposure among retail investors – increased their net purchases of gold by 27 per cent in 2008. But the most startling demand growth came from direct purchases of gold bars and coins by retail investors, especially in Europe and North America, where holding physical gold has never been nearly as popular as it is in many Eastern cultures and developing economies.
Western net retail gold purchases totalled 133 tonnes last year – a sharp reversal from the moderate net sales of gold by Western retail investors in recent years. Meanwhile, gold hoarding among non-Western investors and gold coin purchases from government mints surged 60 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, in the year.
“Especially in the industrialized countries, people are now buying precious metals for portfolio diversification,” said Barry Wainstein, vice-chairman and global head of foreign exchange and precious metals at Scotia Capital Inc., a long-time provider of precious metals products to Canadian investors.
Canadian banks have long offered retail clients exposure to gold through gold-backed certificates, whose value is based on the spot price of gold (minus administrative fees) and can be exchanged by their holders for either cash or physical gold. The advantage is that investors don't need to worry about transport, storage and insurance of physical precious metals.
Russell Browne, director of retail precious metals products at Scotia Capital, said volumes of RRSP-eligible gold-backed certificates have “more than doubled” in the past 18 months.
But in the past year, many clients have been opting against certificates, in favour of the real thing. Some investors are even loading up on gold-industry-standard gold bars – 400-ounce blocks valued at about $400,000 at today's prices.
“We now have retail investors buying multiple bars,” Mr. Browne said. (Scotia sells gold bars ranging from one ounce to the 400-ounce standard.)
The rising demand for bars has prompted Scotia's precious metals arm, ScotiaMocatta, to ramp up its offerings of physical precious metals. In addition to its gold and silver products, ScotiaMocatta earlier this month introduced one-ounce platinum and palladium bars for retail clients.
“In some cases, investors are more comfortable with owning physical precious metals than other financial instruments,” Mr. Wainstein said.
The growing desire to hold precious metals in their physical form may be another side effect of investor distrust in the crisis-riddled global banking sector. Newsletter editor Mr. DiGeorgia suggested investors in the United States have become increasingly nervous about gold-backed investment certificates and even gold storage services at their banks, for fear their assets may not be entirely safe in the case of a bank failure.
“I always tell people to take physical possession of their gold,” he said.

Here At Sound Of Cannons, We've Been Asking Ourselves This Very Question. Very Poignant.

Terence Corcoran: Is this the end of America?
Posted: March 19, 2009, 7:38 PM by NP Editor
Terence Corcoran, Ben Bernanke, inflationU.S. law-making is riddled with slapdash, incompetence and gamesmanship
By Terence Corcoran
Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve is dropping trillions of fresh paper dollars on the world economy, the President of the United States is cracking jokes on late night comedy shows, his energy minister is threatening a trade war over carbon emissions, his treasury secretary is dithering over a banking reform program amid rising concerns over his competence and a monumentally dysfunctional U.S. Congress is launching another public jihad against corporations and bankers.As an aghast world — from China to Chicago and Chihuahua — watches, the circus-like U.S. political system seems to be declining into near chaos. Through it all, stock and financial markets are paralyzed. The more the policy regime does, the worse the outlook gets. The multi-ringed spectacle raises a disturbing question in many minds: Is this the end of America?Probably not, if only because there are good reasons for optimism. The U.S. economy has pulled out of self-destructive political spirals in the past, spurred on by its business class and corporate leaders, the profit-making and market-creating people who rose above the political turmoil to once again lift the world out of financial crisis. It’s happened many times before, except for once, when it took 20 years to rise out of the Great Depression.Past success, however, is no guarantee of future recovery, especially now when there are daily disasters and new indicators of political breakdown. All developments are not disasters in themselves. The AIG bonus firestorm is a diversion from real issues , but it puts the ghastly political classes who make U.S. law on display for what they are: ageing self-serving demagogues who have spent decades warping the U.S. political system for their own ends. We see the system up close, law-making that is riddled with slapdash, incompetence and gamesmanship.One test of whether we are witnessing the end of America is how many more times Americans put up with congressional show trials of individual business people and their employees, slandering and vilifying them for their actions and motives. And for how long will they tolerate a President who berates business and corporations as dens of crime and malfeasance? If the majority of Americans come to accept the caricatures of business as true, then America is closer to the end of its life as a global leader, as a champion of markets and individualism.But America is at risk in other ways, especially in the technical business of setting and executing policy. The presidency of Barack Obama has set out on a course that has no precedent in U.S. history. Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal transformed the U.S. economy during the Great Depression, pushed America off on a sharply different political and ideological course. The Obama administration is different in many ways, not least in its supreme self-confidence in its methods and objectives.Reform of health care, environmental policy, education, energy, banking, regulation — every nook and cranny of the U.S. economy has been put on alert for major change. Expansion of government spending, plunging the U.S. into unprecedented deficits, is without parallel. In economic policy, through regulation and control of energy output, financial services and monetary expansion, the U.S. government has embarked on a fundamental reshaping of America. It is designed, in short, to bring on the end of America.The spillover effect of all this on the rest of the world promises to be dramatically disruptive. The greatest global risk is in monetary and currency policy. Below is a chart that graphically demonstrates the sharp deviation in monetary policy from past norms. Under the chairmanship of Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve is in the midst of a giant economic experiment, flooding the world with U.S. dollars, hoping that flood will stimulate economic activity.The total monetary base, already at astronomical levels, is now expected to take another big hit with the new Fed policy of buying up U.S. longer-term treasury bills in a bid to drive down long-term interest rates.Mr. Bernanke is sometimes known as “Helicopter Ben” because he once in an academic paper referred to the use of “helicopters” full of money to rescue an economy from deflation. In comments Wednesday to explain the Fed’s new policy of buying $300-billion in U.S. treasury bills, Mr. Bernanke noted that the Fed is now more worried about inflation being too low than about it getting too high in the future.For the rest of the world, however, the worry is that America is at risk of becoming the fountainhead of a new inflationary outburst. The U.S. dollar is now in decline, gold is moving sharply higher, and new global currency turmoil is on the horizon. It may not happen. A paper just published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, source of the chart above, says that the Fed will have to be prepared to absorb all the excess money it has poured into the U.S. economy. It will be a technical and political challenge unlike any central bank has ever undertaken. The future of America is at stake.

Obama's Tax Plan>U

Mint suspends production (again) of gold and silver coins, claiming that the demand is too great. Or they don't Got Enough!

Mint Suspends Production of More Gold and Silver Coins

March 14, 2009 Filed Under US Mint
The United States Mint has officially announced the suspension of another slate of gold and silver products. The affected products are 2009 dated American Gold and Silver Eagle coins produced for collectors. These coins are considered collectible versions of the bullion coins.
Although these are collectible coins, they represent a sizable amount of precious metals sales and represent a method of gold and silver investment for many individuals. Last year, the US Mint sold 1,157,911 ounces of silver in the form of Silver Eagle coins minted for collectors. They also sold 155,740 ounces of gold in the form of Gold Eagle and Gold Buffalo coins minted for collectors.
The following message was posted on the US Mint's website in the space where the collectible Gold Eagle coins typically appear. The proof coins has been offered uninterrupted since 1986. The uncirculated version has been offered since 2006.
Production of United States Mint American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins. Currently, all available 22-karat gold blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-185 to produce these coins “in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .”
The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of gold bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Gold Coin products. Additionally, as a result of the recent numismatic product portfolio analysis, fractional sizes of American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins will no longer be produced.
A similar message is posted in the section where collectible American Silver Eagle coins would typically appear. The proof coins have also been offered uninterrupted since 1986 and the uncirculated coins since 2006.
Production of United States Mint American Eagle Silver Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins. Currently, all available silver bullion blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-61 to produce these coins “in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .”
The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Silver Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of silver bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Silver Coin products.
This adds to the lengthy list of 2009 dated precious metals products that have been "temporarily delayed" or suspended by the US Mint. In my previous post Actions of the US Mint Discourage Gold Ownership, I mentioned the delayed release of 2009 Gold Eagle fractional coins, 2009 Gold Buffalo coins, and all 2009 Platinum Eagle coins. The delay, which was first announced in November 2008, continues with no further explanation provided.
For those keeping track, here is a list of the US Mint's 2009 precious metals products that have been "temporarily delayed" or suspended:
2009 American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Platinum Eagle 1 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Platinum Eagle 1/2 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Platinum Eagle 1/4 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Platinum Eagle 1/10 oz. (bullion)
2009 American Gold Buffalo 1 oz. (bullion)
2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1 oz. (collector)
2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
2009-W Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1 oz. (collector)
2009-W Proof American Silver Eagle (collector)
2009-W Uncirculated American Silver Eagle (collector)
In addition, the following precious metals related products were discontinued by the US Mint for 2009. These discontinuations were announced in November 2008. Amidst the environment of unprecedented demand for precious metals, the US Mint determined that these products were "unpopular."
Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
Unriculated American Gold Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1 oz. (collector)
Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1/2 oz. (collector)
Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1/4 oz. (collector)
Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1/10 oz. (collector)
Unriculated American Gold Buffalo 4 Coin Set (collector)
Proof American Gold Buffalo 1/2 oz. (collector)
Proof American Gold Buffalo 1/4 oz. (collector)
Proof American Gold Buffalo 1/10 oz. (collector)
Proof American Gold Buffalo 4 Coin Set (collector)
Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1 oz. (collector)
Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
Proof American Platinum Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
Proof American Platinum Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
Proof American Platinum Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
Proof American Platinum Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
That makes a total of 38 precious metals products which have been delayed, suspended, or discontinued by the US Mint.
As it currently stands, investors or collectors looking to purchase newly minted American Eagle or American Buffalo precious metals products have only two options available. These are the 2009 1 oz. American Gold Eagle and the 2009 1 oz. American Silver Eagle. Both of these products continue to be subject to rationing.

Opportunity?

Man, They Got Big Balls In Montana

State considers return to gold, silver dollars

Proposed bill slams Fed, allows payments in precious metals
Posted: March 16, 200910:39 pm Eastern
By Drew Zahn

A bill being considered in the Montana Legislature blasts the Federal Reserve's role in America's money policy and permits the state to conduct business in gold and silver instead of the Fed's legal tender notes.
Montana H.B. 639, sponsored by State Rep. Bob Wagner, R-Harrison, doesn't require the state or citizens to conduct business in gold or silver, but it does require the state to calculate certain transactions in both the current legal tender system and in an electronic gold currency. It further mandates that the state must accept payments in gold or silver for various fees and purchases.
While Wagner was unavailable for comment, the bill's language clearly alleges the nation's current financial system, with its reliance on the private Federal Reserve system for money supply, is a danger to American freedom.
"The absence of gold and silver coin, whether in that form or in the form of an electronic gold currency, as media of exchange," the bill states, "abridges, infringes on and interferes with the sovereignty and independence of this state … and exposes this state and Montana citizens, inhabitants and businesses to chronic problems and potentially serious crises that may arise from the economic and political instability of the present domestic and international systems of coinage, currency, banking and credit."
(Story continues below)
Further, the bill states, relying only on the depreciating legal tender issued by the Fed subjects citizens to "losses in purchasing power" inflicted by the government, a dilemma the bill says amounts to the "incremental confiscation" of property by government in violation of the U.S. Constitution's protections for just compensation and due process.
The Fifth Amendment states, "No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
Critics of the current financial system argue that using Federal Reserve notes as legal tender, rather than gold- or silver-backed currency, means the value of Americans' money – and thus their "property" – is siphoned away by inflation, a process perpetuated by the government's reliance on legal tender. Gold and silver, critics say, don't lose their value on the whims of the Federal Reserve.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, even favors abolishing the Fed's system of fiat currency to return to dollars backed by gold.
"Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar," the Texas Republican said. "Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy.
"How long will we as a Congress stand idly by while hard-working Americans see their savings eaten away by inflation? Only big-spending politicians and politically favored bankers benefit from inflation," he said.
Wagner joins legislators in several other states encouraging their respective governments to reconsider accepting gold as a form of payment. Indiana's S.B. 453, Colorado's H.B. 09-1206, Missouri's H.B. 0561, Georgia's H.B. 430 and Maryland's H.J.R. 5 are among the gold currency bills introduced just this year in various legislatures.
Montana's H.B. 639 has been referred to the Legislature's State Administration Committee.

Barry's Behind The Collectivist 8-Ball

Barack Obama will back a federal Europe
America's support for a more united Europe betrays both US and British interests, says Nile Gardiner.

By Nile Gardiner
Barack Obama heads to Britain and Europe in two weeks’ time as the leader of the first U.S. Administration to wholeheartedly back the creation of a federal Europe. In contrast to earlier U.S. administrations, including those of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the Obama administration is avowedly Euro-federalist in outlook, and is keen to help build a European Union defense identity as well as support the foundations of a European superstate in Brussels.
This dangerous shift in U.S. policy is a betrayal of both U.S. and British interests that will threaten the long-term future of the Anglo-American Special Relationship, weaken the NATO alliance, and undermine the defence of British sovereignty in Europe. It will also undercut opposition across the EU to the Treaty of Lisbon, including in countries such as Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic, and may set the scene for a major confrontation between the Obama White House and a future Conservative administration in London.

A Eurosceptic Conservative government led by David Cameron, committed to halting further European integration, will find itself increasingly at odds with a left-of-centre U.S. administration that is actively working against the principle of national sovereignty in Europe. In light of this, the current enthusiasm of many British conservatives for the changing of the guard at the White House is hugely misplaced.
The Bush Administration was sharply divided over Europe, with then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backing the European Constitution, but her pro-Brussels instincts were strongly opposed by key figures in the White House and the Pentagon. Bush himself was no supporter of a Franco-German dominated Europe, and worked hard to build up a counterweight of pro-American nations among the new EU members from eastern and central Europe.
In contrast, President Obama’s government will strongly back the European Security and Defence Policy, the Lisbon Treaty and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and will seek to strengthen French and German leadership at the heart of a united European Union. It has appointed several prominent supporters of European federalism to key positions in the Pentagon and State Department, including the new Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michèle Flournoy, and Philip H. Gordon, the next Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Flournoy, who holds one of the most powerful positions in the Pentagon, is a leading supporter of U.S. backing for an EU defence policy, and co-authored a major 2005 study strongly advocating American support for a unified European defence structure. Gordon, who will be the most senior administration official on Europe, has written that America must “support the European project”, and that “the challenge for U.S. policy is to encourage Europe to develop the cohesion and capability to become a true transatlantic partner.” He is also a prominent backer of the defeated EU Constitution, and has pushed in the past for British membership of the Euro, warning the UK that “fully in Europe, Britain has every chance to remain America’s preferred and privileged partner. Marginalized from the EU, Britain could find itself less influential in Washington as well.”
The Obama Administration has already made major concessions to Paris over President Sarkozy’s decision for France to rejoin the NATO integrated command structure. The French have been given two major positions at the helm of the Alliance, a move that will significantly enhance the drive towards a European defence component within NATO. Vice President Joe Biden has clearly indicated that the United States will support “the further strengthening of European defense” and an “increased role for the European Union in preserving peace and security.” When he travels to Europe, President Obama is expected to deliver the same message.
Significantly, while wooing both continental Europe and Russia, the new U.S. administration has been largely indifferent to the Anglo-American alliance, with an appallingly handled reception for the British Prime Minister when he visited the White House earlier this month, and the recalibration of the special relationship as a “special partnership”. Even a bust of Sir Winston Churchill has been unceremoniously thrown out of the Oval Office. A distinctly undiplomatic State Department official involved in the planning of the Obama-Brown meeting was quoted by The Sunday Telegraph as saying that “there’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world.”
There is a chance the Obama Administration will eventually wake up to the reality that American support for a federal Europe will backfire. Such a naive approach will not result in European countries spending more on defence, or in a more effective Europe. It would also undermine Washington’s ability to mobilize international coalitions. Under a unified EU foreign policy, U.S. allies would lose the freedom to decide where and when they can fight alongside America.
As they approach the transatlantic alliance, President Obama and his aides should heed the advice of a former prime minister and great friend of the United States who fought to defend the Special Relationship and maintain British sovereignty in Europe. As Margaret Thatcher put it, “that such an unnecessary and irrational project as building a European superstate was ever embarked upon will seem in future years to be perhaps the greatest folly of the modern era.”
Nile Gardiner is the Director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.

Wait'll We See Man-On-The-Street Interviews On This One!

Fannie Plans Retention Bonuses As Outlined by the Government
By Zachary A. GoldfarbWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, March 19, 2009; D01
Fannie Mae, the federally run mortgage finance giant, plans to pay four top executives $1 million or more in retention bonuses.
The bonus plan prompted the company's federal regulator to defend compensation decisions the government made when it took over Fannie Mae in September. It comes as American International Group faces public outrage over $165 million in bonuses it awarded last week.
Fannie Mae, which suffered $59 billion in losses last year, has requested $15 billion in taxpayer assistance and has said it expects to need plenty more.
Chief Operating Officer Michael Williams is in line for a $1.3 million bonus. Deputy Chief Financial Officer David Hisey is slated for $1.1 million, while executive vice presidents Thomas Lund, responsible for the mortgage business, and Kenneth Bacon, responsible for housing and community development, are each in line for $1 million.
A fifth of this money was paid in 2008. Executives will receive about 60 percent of the remaining funds this year and, depending on performance, as much as 40 percent next year. These executives earned salaries of $385,000 to $676,000 last year.
Fannie Mae chief executive Herbert M. Allison did not take a salary or bonus in 2008. He received $60,000 largely to compensate for his move to Washington to run the company. He was offered a $900,000 base salary. His 2009 salary and bonus haven't been set.
When it took over Fannie Mae, the government instituted a retention program. Under the program, employees deemed crucial to the company's efforts to carry out government housing plans are eligible to receive retention payments, but some may not receive any.
"Many employees have received significant pay reductions, with no bonuses for 2008 performance and all past stock grants are virtually worthless. This retention program is pay for specific efforts underway now to meet national goals," Federal Housing Finance Agency director James B. Lockhart III said in a statement.
"We started to design a retention plan with a compensation consultant even before the [take over] because it was critical to retain their most important asset -- their employees -- who are being asked to play a vital role in the nation's economic recovery," he said. "As the previous senior management teams left, it would have been catastrophic to lose the next layers down and other highly experienced employees."
FHFA signs off on all major compensation decisions. Freddie Mac hasn't disclosed its retention payments, yet. It is expected to do so in coming months, and its payments should resemble those at Fannie Mae.
Insiders say that a few hundred people at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will receive bonuses, and the average bonus should be in the mid-five figures.
It's a big contrast to what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employees experienced in the past, when their shares were skyrocketing and stock-based awards were a popular way to compensate employees, from entry-level secretaries to senior staff.
Many of those employees lost small fortunes when the companies' shares collapsed. Stock grants play no role in current compensation practices at the firms.

Ron Paul Knows Who's To Blame!

Paul: Bill to tax bonuses an 'outrage' and unconstitutional
03/19/2009 @ 11:43 amFiled by David Edwards and Rachel Oswald

Update at bottom: House overwhelmingly passes bonus taxRep. Ron Paul (R-TX) yet again went against the grain in Congress when he stood up in the House and argued against a proposal that would tax 90 percent of AIG executive bonuses, saying that it was a "disgrace," a "distraction" and an "outrage" that undermined the Constitution."I rise in opposition to this rule and the bill because of the problem -- because of the lack of need for this and the disgrace that this has brought upon us," Paul said. "Yesterday, for instance, the Federal Reserve met and they came out and they announced that they would create new money to the tune of $1.25 trillion."Paul, a dark horse Republican candidate for president in 2008 who still enjoys considerable popularity with a base of hardcore supporters, noted that the value of the dollar went down significantly after that announcement by the Fed."Today...on emergency legislation, we're going to deal with $165 million of bonuses, which obviously shouldn't have never been given, but who's responsible for this?" Paul said. "It's the Congress and the president who signed this [$787 billion stimulus bill that allowed the bonuses to go forward]. So this is a distraction, this is an outrage."He chided his fellow House members who were considering supporting the new tax legislation for only caring about the millions in bonuses when they should be concerned with the trillions in deficits the country is facing."So everybody can go home that voted for this bill, say, 'Look, I'm clamping [down] on this $165 million but I don't care about the previous $5 trillion the Fed created and the $1.25 trillion they created yesterday,'" he said. "Think of the loss of purchasing power in less than 24 hours."Paul urged his House members to support his bill, H.R. 1207, which would change the way the Federal Reserve is audited."Let's quit appropriating funds in an unconstitutional manner. Let's quit bankrupting this country," Paul said. "The Fed is not even required to answer any questions. So it's about time we have an open book about the Federal Reserve and solve some of these problems."
House passes tax bill Thursday afternoonDespite the protestations of Paul and a few others, the House voted overwhelmingly to pass the bonus tax legislation Thursday afternoon.Roll Call reports the vote was 328-93 to impose a 90 percent tax on employee bonuses at companies that received federal bailout funds."While the vote was bipartisan, the GOP was split on the bill, with Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) voting against it and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) voting in favor of it," reported Roll Call.CNN notes that the measure, which now heads to the Senate for consideration, would tax individuals on any bonuses received in 2009 from companies getting $5 billion or more in money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Those with incomes more than $250,000 would see their bonuses taxed at the 90 percent rate."We can't have any concept of we're getting even, but we must have a concept that we're trying to show that Congress ... cannot tolerate that," said Charlie Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.Said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "We must also protect the American taxpayer from executives who would use their companies' second chances as opportunities for private gain. Because they could not use sound judgment in the use of taxpayer funds, these AIG executives will pay the Treasury in the form of this tax."Speaking before the House on Thursday, Boehner questioned why they were only taxing 90 percent of the bonuses."Why 90 percent?... We can get 100 percent back because the Treasury Secretary has the ability to get it all back. The Administration has the ability to get it all back," Boehner said. "Why don’t we just get it all back? Why are we bringing this bill to the floor today to give members political cover when in fact the Treasury Secretary has the authority, the Administration has the authority to get all of it back?"Correction: This article has been updated to correct a misstatement about which bill the amendment that excluded executive bonuses agreed to before February was attached to. An earlier version stated that it was the March omnibus spending bill.

UN wants to tax producing countries on their consumption of oil and use the revue (what's left after paying UN expenses) to fund government projects.

$750 billion "green" investment could revive economy: U.N.
Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:24am EDT
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
OSLO (Reuters) - Investments of $750 billion could create a "Green New Deal" to revive the world economy and protect the environment, perhaps aided by a tax on oil, the head of the U.N. environment agency said on Thursday.
Achim Steiner said spending should focus on five environmental sectors including improved energy efficiency for buildings and solar or wind power to create jobs, curb poverty and fight climate change.
"The opportunity must not be lost," Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), told Reuters of a UNEP study that will be put to world leaders meeting in London on April 2 to work out how to spur the ailing economy.
The UNEP report said investments of one percent of global gross domestic product, or about $750 billion, could bankroll a "Global Green New Deal" inspired by the "New Deal" of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that helped end the depression of the 1930s.
Investments should be split between more energy efficient buildings, renewable energies, better transport, improved agriculture and measures to safeguard nature -- such as fresh water, forests or coral reefs, it said.
Thursday's study adds details of spending after UNEP called for a Green New Deal late last year.
Steiner also said that the world urgently needed funds to jump start a U.N. deal to fight global warming, due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December to succeed the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012.
He floated the possibility of taxing oil in rich nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to help a new pact become the cornerstone of a greener economy.
"If, for argument's sake, you were to put a five-year levy in OECD countries of $5 a barrel, you would generate $100 billion per annum. It translates into roughly 3 cents per liter," he said.
UNNOTICED
"It would be almost, if not totally, unnoticed by the consumer," he said, especially since oil prices have fallen from more than $140 a barrel at mid-2008 peaks to about $40.
A barrel of oil contains 158 liters and OECD consumption is about 20 billion barrels a year, he said. "This is just one example, there may be many others," of funding, he said.
"I am concerned about the prospect of a meaningful deal in Copenhagen if there is not a significant financial package on the table," he said. Cash would encourage poor nations to step up actions to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions.
"The argument that we cannot afford this does not, on any serious analysis, hold much water -- especially given the cost to the global economy of failure to act on climate change," he said.
Carbon markets, which could also be a source of funds to help fight climate change, were unlikely to contribute enough cash in early years of a new climate deal, he said.
Steiner said there were promising signs that economic stimulus packages by many nations, ranging from the United States to China, were being tailored to help a shift toward greener growth and away from dependence on fossil fuels.
The U.N. Climate Panel says that greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels are a prime cause of warming that will cause more heatwaves, droughts, rising sea levels and more powerful storms.

Dollar Down Down Down

Yesterday’s Fed announcement junk-punched the dollar in its man business. While we were writing this morning, Larry Kudlow, a perennial bull for all things America, burned a dollar on his show and told viewers of CNBC: “This is the value of our money.”
Traders had already been growing weary of the greenback and getting behind the recent rally in the stock market. But this chart says it all. Can you guess when the Fed released their statement?
That was a 2.7% drop for the dollar index during yesterday’s session -- its worst one-day performance since 1971 when the index began. (The index was created in lieu of any solid backing for the dollar under the Bretton Woods exchange rate system. Then-President Nixon, the imperial president, dismantled Bretton Woods on Aug. 15 of that year, blaming a run on the dollar on “international speculators.”)

The Debt Ratio Is Where?

Yesterday’s announcement could easily balloon the Fed balance sheet to over $3 trillion. We expect that to go even higher by the end of 2009. These are "up to" numbers, mind you. So it may never happen. But the Fed did choose them for dramatic effect. Likewise, we thought we'd show you a chart of the Fed's balance sheet, if it ballooned as dramatically as last fall:
Lest you become as concerned as our Mr. Amoss, “The Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued,” reads the Fed’s statement. Phew.
“With the Fed now explicitly supporting the Treasury note and Treasury bond market,” Amoss continues, undeterred, “how will ‘bond vigilantes’ express their displeasure with the inflationary policies emanating from Fed/Treasury/Congress?
“Econ 101 tells us that government-imposed price floors (in this case, for Treasuries) lead to persistent gluts/surpluses... think of farm price supports during the Depression and dumped milk. So today's action will, unfortunately, only encourage the crooks in Congress to float even more Treasury bills for their pork projects.
“We're just that much closer to a banana republic after today. The only relief valve for today's decision that comes to mind is accelerated decline in the dollar's value against anything tangible. Then again, that might have been Bernanke's intent, given his ‘fight deflation at all costs’ mentality.”
Naturally, Treasuries had a historically big day yesterday. The yield on a 10-year note fell nearly half a percent, to 2.5% -- its biggest one-day move since 1987.

The Fed did WHAT? Oh no...................

In a single breath, the Fed committed another $1.15 trillion to the credit quagmire. The dirty details:
* $750 billion for purchasing mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (on top of the $500 billion the Fed has already promised)
* Another $100 billion directly toward Fannie and Freddie’s debt. That’s also atop a pre-existing $100 billion program
* The knockout blow… the Fed will officially begin buying “longer-term” U.S. Treasury notes. The FOMC said they’d spend at least $300 billion over the next 6 months.

Fictiously Funny..........

"If only you knew the power of the dark side... wait, that came out wrong." - Joe Biden

Darth Obama's Debt Star

ABC 20/20 Bailouts and Bull with John Stossel: The Economy

John Stossel discusses how government spends/waste taxpayer money and the consequence of intervention in the economy 3/13/09. Here at Sound Ofd Cannons Towers, we've always like Stossel and his libertarian cred. He'd be better suited to a serious news organization, but be thankful he has a platform.

Breaking Apart & Cracking Up

Global trade collapsing
Commentary: U.S. exports falling at 49% pace as customers fade away
By MarketWatch
Last update: 12:37 p.m. EDT March 13, 2009
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- For a while, some analysts held out hope that the rest of the world would be spared the devastation of the collapse of the great American credit bubble. The global economy had de-coupled, they said. America's problems were her own.
No one is saying that any more.
In fact, the latest evidence shows that global trade flows are plunging at an alarming rate.
The Commerce Department reported that the volume of U.S. imports from abroad fell 4.6% in January while exports declined 8.6%, the most since the monthly trade figures were first collected in 1992. See full story.
Over the past five months since the credit crunch intensified, real exports have plunged at a 49% annual rate, while real imports have fallen at a 30% pace.
The pace of the decline is unprecedented in modern times, economists say. "We doubt even during the Great Depression that trade collapsed with such ferocity," said David Greenlaw, an economist for Morgan Stanley.
The Great Recession, as the IMF calls it, has severed a crucial link in the global economy. U.S. consumer spending has been the main engine of growth for the whole world, but that spending was based largely on phantom gains in asset prices that were inflated by that cheap money from abroad that has now been disrupted.
The profits that foreign producers made from selling to America, in turn, created millions of jobs in places such as China, Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf. That was then: China reported its exports plunged 25% in February compared with a year earlier.
Those jobs are disappearing, sparking a great reverse migration back to rural China, the Philippines and South Asia. In China, an estimated 20 million workers have lost their jobs. It's not just the American economy that needs to adjust to the new reality. The rest of the world will have to re-examine just where growth comes from.
Ultimately, the global economy may find a road to more balanced growth. Economies from Germany to China may need to rely less on U.S. consumers and more on their own.
Wherever the road leads, the process will be wrenching and drawn out.

It's Getting Scarier Out There Folks

Think recession's bad? Try a cataclysm!

World finances shaken to roots within a year

By Ray Turchansky, For Canwest News Service; Edmonton JournalMarch 15, 2009

There is a growing list of educated people predicting the trillions of dollars spent by governments around the world to stimulate a moribund economy will not work.
There's already Peter Schiff, head of Euro Pacific Capital in Connecticut, and Peter Morici, professor at University of Maryland and former chief economist of the U.S. International Trade Commission. And you can add the name of Allan Brennan, manager of economic analysis and forecasting with the Alberta government's Department of Infrastructure and Transportation.
"Stimulus packages will not help the economy at all," Brennan said in a presentation with Dundee Private Investors branch manager Trevor Hamon. "A lot of money is going to banks, but unless you get that money to consumers, things will not improve."
Brennan said that within a year, we will face a cataclysmic event that will shake world finances to the roots, leading to a major period of either deflation or hyperinflation, either of which will rock the global economy. Just what that event will be, he's not sure.
It could be the failure of eastern European countries, or the collapse of the American dollar. If it causes hyperinflation, investors can prosper by letting stock prices plummet for a couple of months, and then invest in commodities, with copper leading the rebound.
"With deflation, you would end up with a very violent, very short, very deep recession, and within three years you'd start climbing out of that. With inflation, it could go on for 20 years."
Portugal, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Spain are all near bankruptcy. So is the state of California.
Hamon warned that banks have lured people into home-equity lines of credit, and they are now retiring while still in debt.
"In the next couple of years, the art of investing will be not losing your principal," Brennan said. "The way out of this, in the long term, is for people to start saving."
He said the nationalization of banks is inevitable, but it will be done "under the table." He sees the British pound disappearing as an independent currency, the U.S. dollar in peril as the reserve currency, and the euro perhaps splitting into a strong Nordic and weak Latin one.
U.S. banks own 19 million homes through foreclosures, but they haven't put them on the market, knowing it would kill prices. People who save will be able to buy those homes with 25-per-cent down payments.
In the end, Hamon said, we will return to the way we used to live a generation or two ago. That means grandparents living with their children. One-income families. People raising their own children and cutting their own grass.
"There will be a reduction in living standards," Brennan said.

{And this dear reader has been the goal all along. They want to reduce our living standards so we're easier prey for the elites and easier to control. Starving and sick populaces don't rise up against their masters.....)

Jim Rogers Expect Civil Unrests in the US and all around the World pt 4/4 Mar 17-09

Part IV of this interview with Jim Rogers. Every word this man speaks should be taught to Americas youth.

Jim Rogers Expect Civil Unrests in the US and all around the World pt 3/4 Mar 17-09

Part III of this great interview with Jim Rogers.

Jim Rogers Expect Civil Unrests in the US and all around the World pt 2/4 Mar 17-09

Part II of this very important interview.

Jim Rogers Expect Civil Unrests in the US and all around the World pt 1/4 Mar 17-09

Do they come any smarter? Jim Rogers is a truth-sayer with integrity to spare.

What? Dems Are Awake?

Democrats Finally Waking Up to the Ongoing Looting of the Economy

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Just as a certain percentage of republicans refused to admit that rotten things were happening under the Bush administration, many democrats have fought to defend the Obama administration against charges of mishandling the response to the economic crisis.
But now, as ABC news notes:
President Obama is facing growing liberal anger over his handling of the economy, with prominent voices on the left voicing concerns that taxpayer-funded bailouts are enriching corporate America while doing little to right the nation’s economic ship….Several prominent Democrats are pointing out that Obama aides were more than willing to press auto workers to renegotiate contracts as a condition of bailouts for car companies — but are now citing the sanctity of contracts in AIG bonuses, saying they can’t be canceled.
“People have no confidence in what’s happening right now,” Jane Hamsher, the founder of the liberal blog FireDogLake, said Monday on ABC NewsNOW’s “Politics Live.”
“People on the right and the left are looking at all this money being shoveled to banks [by] friends of Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers … and they’re not seeing any accountability,” she added. “They don’t know where the money’s going, they don’t know how much is gone, and it’s all nontransparent and extremely suspicious.”…
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

“He’s walking down a very, very dangerous path right now,” liberal activist and author David Sirota told ABCNews.com. “It betrays the exact problem that people are angry at — that there’s one set of rules for Wall Street and Washington and another set of rules for everybody else.”
“It’s becoming real, what the difference is between Obama’s rhetoric about power coming from outside of Washington, and the reality of an administration filled with Washington and Wall Street insiders,” Sirota said….
Robert Reich, who was former President Clinton’s labor secretary, called it a “scandal” that “Americans still have so little say over what is happening with our money.”
“When our very own secretary of the Treasury cannot make stick his decision that AIG’s bonuses should not be paid, only one conclusion can be drawn: AIG is accountable to no one. Our democracy is seriously broken,” Reich wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed.
Democratic lawmakers joined Republicans in expressing outrage. They called on the president to do more to protect taxpayer dollars.
“The American people are being played for fools by AIG,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said today on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Talk, of course, is cheap.
Unless and until the democrats demand that Summers, Geithner and Bernanke be fired and replaced with people with a demonstrated commitment to the public interest, things will just get worse and - despite the faux populism of both the democrats and republicans in congress - the people will just get angrier and angrier.

alex jones ifc SXSW 2009: Everday Conspiracies with Alex Jones

Alex Jones, world renowned truth seeker and star of the new IFC documentary “New World Order,” explains the conspiracies inherent in six seemingly innocuous everyday objects.

Wayne Paul speaks taken from 'The Obama Deception'

The man speaks the truth.....his voice needs to be heard.

Hedge Funds In Line For Bailout Taxpayer Money

Hedge funds could reap billions from AIG
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
$160 million in bonuses to AIG executives? Try billions in dollars slated to be paid by AIG to hedge funds.
The massive now mostly-government owned insurer American International Group is slated to shell out billions of dollars to hedge funds that bet against the US housing market, according to documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
In other words, vulture investors that bet the US housing market would crumble are scheduled to receive billions of dollars in premiums on their bets, even though many of them never had a material investment in the housing market. And the cash paid out to these investors is coming from US taxpayers, who bailed out AIG.
To use a metaphor, AIG was the casino that couldn’t do math and the hedge funds are successful, well-schooled gamblers.

Hedge funds are typically only open to superrich investors, in part because of their high risk, and hold much of the market for betting against the stocks of certain industries or companies.
“The documents show how Wall Street banks were middlemen in trades with hedge funds and AIG that left the giant insurer holding the bag on billions of dollars of assets tied to souring mortgages,” the Journal’s Serena Ng reported. “AIG has put in escrow some money for at least one major bank, Deutsche Bank AG, whose hedge-fund clients made bets against the housing market, according to a person familiar with the matter. The money will be released to the bank if mortgage defaults rise above a certain level.”
“In essence, while the U.S. government is busy trying to prop up the housing market — by trying to limit foreclosures, among other things — it is simultaneously putting up cash that could be used to pay off investors who bet housing prices would tumble and many mortgage holders would default,” Ng added.
Just how much AIG is on the hook for is unclear. Congress has committed $173 billion to bailing out AIG thus far, but its unknown how much of this could be enjoyed by hedge fund investors. AIG’s housing market bets have cost taxpayers $52 billion to date.
“The transactions worked like this: Investment banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank sold financial instruments to hedge funds letting them bet that mortgage defaults would rise,” Ng wrote. “These instruments were credit default swaps, a form of insurance that pays out in the event of a debt default.
“Many of the assets AIG insured were tied to subprime mortgages. The deterioration of those high-risk mortgages, along with AIG’s own financial woes, forced the insurer to put up billions of dollars in collateral, mostly to the banks that were its trading partners,” Ng added. “AIG sold protection on securities backed by physical assets, as well as on positions almost entirely backed by other financial bets.”

Conservatives And Freedom Lovers In The Crosshairs

LP Missouri Condemns Missouri Highway Patrol Training Document as Political Profiling
independentpoliticalreport.comWednesday, March 18, 2009
republished from the LPMO website.
For Immediate Release
March 15, 2009
Contact: Mike Ferguson, Missouri Libertarian Party Spokesperson at 816.695.1425 or mike@focalpointcommunications.net.
Missouri Libertarian Party Condemns Missouri Highway Patrol Training Document as Political Profiling
Internal MIAC “Strategic Report” implies Libertarian Party members and other political activists could be members of “the militia movement”
Columbia, MO Mar. 15 — The Missouri Libertarian Party, the third-largest political party in the state, issued the following statement regarding a “Strategic Report” issued by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) on February 22nd, which became known to the public late last week:
An internal document designed for law enforcement education purposes inaccurately and dangerously implies that among the indicators of possible involvement in extremist, militant militia activity is support for the Libertarian Party. This memo and its findings are potentially dangerous to both the people of Missouri and to our system of free political speech.
The memo claims that membership in, among other groups, the Libertarian Party and/or the display of what it calls “political paraphernalia” in support of the party or its 2008 presidential nominee (former US Congressman Bob Barr) could be an indicator that someone is involved in a “militant militia”.
“Not only is this assertion baseless, it is outrageous and very dangerous,” stated Missouri LP spokesman Mike Ferguson, who was also the national field director for the Barr presidential campaign in 2008. “it is also misleading. Libertarians oppose the violence, racism and extremism of the ‘militant militia’ that MIAC expresses concern about. Anyone who understands basic libertarian thought knows we adamantly oppose any violence for political purposes.”
The memo purports to outline “trends” in extremist militia activity and claims those involved in such activity “…commonly associate with 3rd party political groups.” It went on to claim that militia members are “usually supporters of” Bob Barr, another third party candidate and Republican Ron Paul. While the report claims to be a memo about trends in militia activity, no specific evidence is offered to support the claim.

“The evidence is not offered because it is not there,” explained Ferguson, “the claims amount to political profiling. If support for a legitimate political party might lead the police to worry that you are a violent extremist, you are less likely to become involved in our political process. This incorrect document has the potential to stifle political free speech that opposes the two larger political parties’ policies. This is dangerous for anyone who wants to be part of our political and social discourse.”
The Missouri Libertarian Party is asking for meetings with Missouri State Highway Patrol Col. James Keathley, MIAC Director Van Godsey, Department of Public Safety Director John Britt and Governor Jay Nixon to correct the misinformation. The party also demands that the potentially libelous statements about the Libertarian Party and Bob Barr are removed from the training document and calls for a public apology from those responsible for the irresponsible MIAC “strategic memo.”

Sovereignty Starts Getting Noticed!

Popular state sovereignty bills draw comparison to Civil War posturing
Are You Breaking Up With Me?!
By Greg Hambrick
The threat is only implied in more than two-dozen state sovereignty bills making the rounds in legislatures across the country, except for a New Hampshire bill where the authors didn't hold back. Any law infringing on the state's right to self govern would trigger the dissolution of the nation: "All powers previously delegated to the United States of America by the Constitution ... shall revert to the several states individually."
The S.C. House of Representatives has approved a resolution with the same state's rights concerns (but omiting the dire consequences), and the Senate is expected to soon take up a similar resolution.
State Rep. Michael Pitts (R-Laurens), who authored the House bill, says that it's not as much a threat to the Union as it is a "wake-up call." Federal mandates have strained his patience, particularly those laws relating to gun control and the treatment of illegal immigrants. Threats aren't necessary, he says.
"If Washington doesn't wake up and our economy keeps going the way it is going, I don't think we'll have to dissolve the union," he says. "It won't be able to stand."
Political revolts against federal laws are nearly as old as the nation itself. From trading to slavery to civil rights, states have felt put-upon by Washington's mandates. But it was a political standoff on Charleston's shores in 1832 that framed the argument leading to the Civil War.
It was a stand for state's rights that applied similar language to what we're seeing in the present-day debates over sovereignty, says Civil War historian W. Scott Poole, an associate history professor at the College of Charleston.
"I was fairly horrified actually," Poole says upon reading Pitt's House bill. "It clearly harkens back to nullification."
"King Street, King Street"
A federal tariff on European imports was crippling sections of the South Carolina economy in the late 1820s, and there was no relief following the election of President Andrew Jackson in 1828. The mounting tension led the state to nullify the tariff in November 1832. The challenge from South Carolina was likely one of the worst of Jackson's presidency, writes Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jon Meacham in American Lion, his 2008 book on Old Hickory's years in office.
The state would continue to collect the fee for several months while it awaited other southern states to join the protest. In the meantime, Jackson ordered ships to the Charleston Harbor to ensure the tariff was collected and to protect federal interests in anticipation of armed revolt. But secessionists weren't as well positioned in other states, and South Carolina nullifiers were left to stand alone. Even among its own residents, there were unionists in S.C. who felt strongly that the nation must be preserved.
In one particular exchange cited in American Lion, the political debate nearly led to a brawl in the streets of Charleston, according to a letter by the Rev. Samuel Cram Jackson.
A group of people supporting nullification "staked out King Street downtown," and they sent word to federal supporters, called Unionists, who had gathered nearby that they should use Meeting Street or risk a confrontation, according to Meacham.
"The warning infuriated the Unionists," Meacham writes, going on to quote the letter from Samuel Cram Jackson: "Their blood was up, to think that the nullifiers should dictate the street they should walk in. The cry resounded, 'King Street, King Street.' Before they left their hall, they organized into companies, chose their leaders, and promised implicit obedience. Both parties were armed with clubs and dirks." It looked to be 500 nullifiers, compared to 1,000 Unionists. The confrontation was eventually resolved without a battle. According to Samuel Cram Jackson, "it was owing entirely to the firmness and wisdom of the leaders that the streets of Charleston did not run down with blood."
Without support from other states, and citing the threat of federal force, South Carolina accepted a compromise tariff in early 1833, ending the political standoff.
Meacham notes a letter from Jackson soon after the resolution that reveals he understood the real goal of the state's nullification posturing.
"The tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object," Jackson wrote. "The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question."
Back to the Future
As in 1832, some have claimed the modern argument over state sovereignty is in response to the crippling financial crisis, like the Republican Caucus of the state Senate.
"While Congress continues its irresponsible spending spree and grows our debts on the backs of hardworking South Carolina taxpayers, many Senate Republicans are pushing a resolution to reaffirm our state's sovereignty under the United States constitution," wrote spokesman Wesley Donehue in a recent caucus release.
But, once again, it is about more than just money.
Pitts notes he first designed his bill in response to mandates that the state provide education and emergency medical treatment to illegal aliens. And it goes beyond that to other concerns, like the threat of stricter gun control laws under the new Democratic administration, Pitts says, as well as Bush-era policies, like No Child Left Behind and the Patriot Act. Authors of sovereignty bills in other states have also made reference to federal abortion laws.
The U.S. government has been continuously overstepping its bounds since Roosevelt, Pitts says. "They send money to the states with strings attached."
But courts have determined that it's Washington's prerogative to require states to spend the money it provides in a particular way, says College of Charleston political science professor William Moore. Today, states are even more dependent on federal aid than they were 200 years ago.
"If you have your hand in the government pocket, you're going to have to abide by those requirements," he says.
The threat of secession in the New Hampshire bill has doomed its passage as it was overwhelmingly rejected by the state House earlier this month, but South Carolina is poised to approve its sovereignty resolution, which avoids declaring such drastic consequences.
Pitts, an Army veteran and retired police officer, stresses he doesn't want to see South Carolina secede from the Union, though he's candid enough to note that "we have very little in common with the West Coast."
The struggle in 1832 was only a prelude to the secessionist battle to come decades later. Jackson framed the argument for preserving the union in his response to South Carolina's nullification threat.
"To say that any state may at pleasure secede from the union is to say that the United States is not a nation," Jackson wrote. "Because the union was formed by a compact, it is said that the parties to that compact may, when they feel themselves aggrieved, depart from it; but it is precisely because it is a compact that they may not. A compact is a binding obligation."
His words suggested a resolve in the heart of Washington that would truly be tested years later on the battlefield. Recollections of the blood spilled in that war between the states likely kept New Hampshire from approving its recent preamble to revolt. It will likely also keep other states like South Carolina from doing more than stomping their feet in dissatisfaction.

Y'Know What? You Seldom Go Wrong Listening To Really Smart People ~ There Are Bad Things Coming

Depression Unrest Turmoil Instability Riots all coming and SOON
The Coming Depression

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Marc Faber says: The best bet for investors may be to buy a farm and escape from the cities, as a prolonged recession could lead to war, as the Great Depression did. If the global economy doesn’t recover, usually people go to war.
Jim Rogers says: I expect to see social unrest, civil unrest in the United States a couple of years from now. Yes its changing the entire situation in the United States, the US is the largest debtor in the history of the world. There is a dramatic change taking place.
The world’s century is moving from the west to the east, to Asia and many people have not figured this out yet.
Yes, you are going to see a lot of turmoil in the United States in the next 3, 4, 5 years.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair said:“The global economic crisis … already looms as the most serious one in decades, if not in centuries … Economic crises increase the risk of regime-threatening instability if they are prolonged for a one- or two-year period,” said Blair. “And instability can loosen the fragile hold that many developing countries have on law and order, which can spill out in dangerous ways into the international community.”***Former national security director Zbigniew Brzezinski warned “there’s going to be growing conflict between the classes and if people are unemployed and really hurting, hell, there could be even riots.”The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned the the financial crisis is the highest national security concern for the U.S., and warned that the fallout from the crisis could lead to of “greater instability”.Others warning of crash-induced unrest include:

The head of the World Trade Organization

The head of the International Monetary Fund

Senator Christopher Dodd

Congressman Ron Paul (radio interview on March 6, 2009)

Britian’s MI5 security agency

Leading economic historian Niall Ferguson

Leading economist Nouriel Roubini

Leading economist John Williams

Top trend researcher Gerald Calente

European think tank Leap2020

Missouri Thinks You Are Dangerous

Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty Responds To Missouri’s “Terrorist” Claims
March 18, 2009
Vows to take petition “straight to the top”

Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty group has responded to a report compiled for law officials in Missouri that equates supporters of the Texas Congressman with radical race hate groups and terrorists.
As we [2] detailed last week, the report, which has been handed out to Missouri police officers, specifically describes supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr as “militia” influenced terrorists.
The report, distributed by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, also instructs the Missouri police to be on the lookout for supporters displaying bumper stickers and other paraphernalia associated with the Constitutional, Campaign for Liberty, and Libertarian parties.
Now the Campaign For Liberty group intends to deliver a [3] Citizen’s Petition to the Missouri Governor and Attorney General, which will highlight the offensive and inflammatory content contained within the MIAC report.
“Here at Campaign for Liberty we are going to give this foolishness the treatment it deserves.” writes John Tate, the group’s President in an email to members.
“It is important that we respond in the right way when faced with such a government labeling, and the proper way is to go straight to the top in Missouri.”
“The ’study’ was undoubtedly written by some university liberal who knows nothing of the hundreds of thousands of Missourians who share our values. I can only imagine how many hundreds of thousands of Missouri tax dollars funded this.” Tate adds.
The Missouri report is the latest in a long line of documents and literature intended to train police nationwide that supporters of Constitutionally-limited government must be labeled and targeted as potential security threats.
We urge our readers to sign the[3] Campaign for Liberty’s Citizen’s Petition and help the group expose such freedom stripping activity.

Below is The Campaign For Liberty’s response in full.
March 17, 2009Dear Friend of Liberty,
Maybe you’ve heard, or maybe not, but the Missouri State Police think you might be a security threat.
Why? Because you support Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty. Also, because maybe you own guns, oppose abortion or homeschool.
Even, and I’m serious, because you support the U.S. Constitution.
I know, it’s ridiculous…and probably steams you a bit.
But here at Campaign for Liberty we are going to give this foolishness the treatment it deserves. More on that in a moment. Let me give you a bit more background.
As you may be aware by now, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) recently released a report titled, “The Modern Militia Movement” to over one thousand Missouri law enforcement officers.
What is the Missouri Information Analysis Center? According to its website,
“MIAC is the mechanism to collect incident reports of suspicious activities to be evaluated and analyzed in an effort to identify potential trends or patterns of terrorist or criminal operations within the state of Missouri. MIAC will also function as a vehicle for two-way communication between federal, state and local law enforcement community within our region.”
The MIAC warned officers that violent militia members are “usually” supporters of presidential candidates like Ron Paul and are also known for opposition to things like the Federal Reserve and the income tax.
The “study” was undoubtedly written by some university liberal who knows nothing of the hundreds of thousands of Missourians who share our values. I can only imagine how many hundreds of thousands of Missouri tax dollars funded this.
Both Ron Paul and Campaign for Liberty champion principles of freedom, peace, and prosperity. We believe that the Founder’s vision for America can be reclaimed through education and peaceful activism. It is a common practice of elitist intellectuals and backroom bureaucrats to attempt to crowd everyone into groups and stick labels on them, especially when it involves those who support a Constitutionally-limited government.
Anthony Gregory, editor-in-chief at Campaign for Liberty, has posted an excellent new article on our site concerning government broad-brush fear campaigns.
It is important that we respond in the right way when faced with such a government labeling, and the proper way is to go straight to the top in Missouri.
The way to fight thugs and ignorant people in authority is not to cower or rage, but to proudly proclaim who you are and what you believe.
That’s why I urge you to sign our Citizen’s Petition here today.
Our petition spells out in no uncertain terms who we are and what we believe. And it reminds those in charge of enforcing Missouri’s laws that we are citizen activists who will not be intimidated nor embarrassed into silence.
Simply owning a gun does not make you a threat. It means you are a free citizen.
Supporting our Constitution does not make you worthy of a watchlist, it makes you a Patriot.
So please, sign our Citizen’s Petition today. Be sure to stay tuned for more information on how we plan to respond to the MIAC.
Finally, I want to ask you a final favor. If you can, please join us next week as we gather in St. Louis for the first Campaign for Liberty Regional Conference and show the people of Missouri what Campaign for Liberty truly stands for and represents.
We will be hosting a free event on Friday Night with Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano that is open to the public, and the conference will be highlighted by grassroots training on Saturday, March 28.
Learning how to properly mobilize in order to implement liberty-based legislation is absolutely critical to our success as a movement, and our Regional Conference will provide you with the tools you need as we move forward.
For more information on our Conference, check out our Regional Conference page. For special travel and hotel information, click here.
Liberty is never free, and demands vigilance.
I look forward to seeing you in St. Louis for an exciting weekend of celebration and training!
In Liberty,
John TatePresident, Campaign for Liberty
P.S. And don’t forget to fill out our Citizen’s Petition, which we will deliver to the Missouri Governor and Attorney General.

Overconfidence and A Rug Pulled Out From Under Them.....

Banks say over-confidence contributed to crisis
Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:20pm EDT
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - The banking industry became overly confident about its ability to bounce back from trouble and was caught out by the speed and scale of the current financial crisis, British bank chiefs said on Tuesday.
"There was perhaps a sense of over-confidence in the system's ability to reconstruct itself after what were seen as critical events, in a way it was unable to do in the current crisis," said Douglas Flint, finance director of HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Europe's biggest bank.
Flint cited the industry's ability to come through multiple setbacks in the last decade, including in Russia, South America and the collapse of U.S. hedge fund LTCM.
"All these crises had been seen as absolutely significant and cataclysmic and yet within a short period of time they were simply seen as buying opportunities because the system had rebounded and healed itself," he said in testimony from bankers to a panel of UK lawmakers. [nLH728229]
John Varley, chief executive of rival bank Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), agreed.
"That misplaced confidence in the ability of the industry to manage through the cycle, because of its sophistication and because of a view of risk diversification, we all made that mistake," Varley said, citing banks, auditors, regulators and governments.
Flint said there was no "silver bullet" of better regulation or supervision that could have prevented the financial crisis, but welcomed steps to reduce fragmentation and improve transparency in regulation.
Varley said banks that fail to conform to new remuneration guidelines planned by Britain's financial regulator will have greater capital requirements imposed on them.
Banks remain in talks with the regulator about restructuring the bonus structure, and some details are expected to be unveiled in a key report to be released on Wednesday.

Nicely Said............

Margaret Thatcher said it: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

Let's TEA PARTY AMERICA!!!!!!!

Fed-up Americans mobilize: More than 170 tea parties

Patriots put blazing heat on Washington, rebuke reckless spending by government
Posted: March 15, 20099:50 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
WorldNetDaily
A revolution is brewing as American patriots and free-market advocates unite in protest against out-of-control government spending – with a wildfire movement of more than 170 nationwide tea parties.
John M. O'Hara of The Heartland Institute is a member of New American Tea Party, a coalition of citizens and organizations concerned about reckless government spending, is helping coordinate a number of national tea party events.
"Our message is simple: 'Bailing out' reckless businesses and individuals is neither the burden of responsible, hard-working American taxpayers nor the role of government," he told WND.
Here's a tea party everyone can join! Sign the petition calling for the Constitution and common sense to prevail when it comes to spending...
O'Hara said there is no question the United States is facing tough economic times, but he believes many politicians are not proposing serious solutions.
"The Congressional Budget Office and countless economists say that the recent 'stimulus' packages will likely hinder, not help, our economy," he said. "Tax cuts, not tax hikes and handouts, are the quickest, most efficient means of getting our economy back on track."

O'Hara said legislators must listen to citizens who are tired of irresponsible policies so the nation can recover.
"It is time politicians heed the will of the American people and the clear signals coming from the financial sector: stop the excessive spending, cut taxes, and get out of the way. Only then will we unleash the resilient, entrepreneurial spirit of Americans that has made our nation great and which will propel us through this rough patch to more prosperous times ahead.
The New American Tea Party website states, "This isn't a conservative or liberal thing. This is about government forking over billions of dollars, our money, to businesses that should have failed. This is about taking money from responsible people and handing it over to CEOs who squandered their own."
Another organization, the Political Exploration and Awareness Committee, or PEACPAC, formed a website known as ReTeaParty and accepts tea party registrations from across the nation. It also provides detailed information on how to organize tea parties and posts photos of the events.
Tax Day Tea Party, a national collaborative grassroots effort organized by Smart Girl Politics, Top Conservatives on Twitter, the DontGo Movement and many other online groups, is also promoting the events.
WND has also launched its own tea party forum so citizens may exchange ideas, information and announcements about the "revolution." After reviewing various website protest listings, WND found more than 170 tea parties scheduled for upcoming months and compiled one of the most complete lists on the Internet. Here are some scheduled tea parties:
Birmingham, Ala. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Veteran Park on Highway 17 Valledale Road

Huntsville, Ala. – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., vacant lot (lot k) across the street from Clinton Avenue post office
Decatur, Ala. – Saturday, March 28, at the Rhodes Ferry Park, (also known as River Park)
Mobile, Ala. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the USS Alabama battleship
Montgomery, Ala. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Alabama Statehouse located at 11 South Union Street
Springdale, Ala. – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in downtown Springdale, exact location to be determined
Phoenix, Ariz. – Wednesday, April 15, at 6 p.m. at capitol building
Tucson, Ariz. – Wednesday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of Joel D. Valdez Main Library on 101 N. Stone Ave.
Mountain Home, Ark. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., location to be announced
Atascadero, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., Sunken Gardens on El Camino Real
Citrus Heights, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., intersection at Greenback Lane and Sunset Boulevard
Hollister, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., corner of San Benito and 4th St.
Los Angeles, Calif. – Saturday, July 4, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Santa Monica Pier
Modesto, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 1010 10th Street
Pasadena, Calif. – Saturday, April 11, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 100 N. Garfield Ave.
Sacramento, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at state capitol building on L Street
San Bernadino, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. from Meadowbrook Park to Joe Baca's Office, 201 N. "E" St.
San Diego, Calif. – Saturday, April 11, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., West Basin on N. Harbor Dr. across street from airport, Spanish Landing Park
San Diego, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at a post office near you
San Francisco, Calif. – April 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Civic Center Park, one block from Nancy Pelosi's office at 450 Golden Gate Ave.
San Francisco, Calif. – April 15 at 1 p.m., location not yet chosen.
San Jose, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at IRS offices at 55 S. Market Street, across the street from Saint Joseph’s Cathedral
Santa Ana, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., tentative location at Santa Ana Civic Center
Santa Barbara, Calif. – Saturday, April 4 at 2:30 p.m., meeting at Santa Barbara County Courthouse
Temecula, Calif. – Wednesday, April 15, 11 a.m., Duck Pond
Hartford, Conn. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
New Haven, Conn. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Ridgefield, Conn. – Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m. at Ballard Park
Stamford, Conn. – Saturday, March 28, 10 a.m. at 96 Broad Street (Starbucks/library location), corner of Broad and Bedford
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Wednesday, April 15 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at city hall, 107 North Nevada
Denver, Colo. – Wednesday, April 15 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the west steps of the capitol, 200 East Colfax
Grand Junction, Colo. – Wednesday, April 15 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 12th Street and North Avenue
Dover, Del. – Wednesday, April 15 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., location to be announced
Inverness, Fla. – Saturday, April 18 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the old historical courthouse, One Courthouse Square
Jacksonville, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., either Jax Landing or Friendship Fountain
Miami, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., location to be announced
Naples, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., Pine Ridge Road and U.S. 41
Orlando, Fla. – Saturday, March 21, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the amphitheater at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando
Orlando, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., location to be announced
Palm Beach, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., location to be announced
Panama City, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 3 p.m. to dark at Sherman Avenue Post Office
Pensacola, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at downtown courthouse, Palafox Street and E. Garden St.
Punta Gorda, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Gilchrist Park, 400 W. Retta Esplande
Tampa, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Gaslight Park, downtown Tampa
West Palm Beach, Fla. – Wednesday, April 15 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., location to be announced
Tallahassee, Fla. – Thursday, March 17, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., 400 South Monroe
Tallahassee, Fla. – Thursday, March 19, at 5 p.m. at the Leon County Commission Chambers, 5th floor, Courthouse
Atlanta, Ga. – Wednesday, April 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.at the capitol building located at 206 Washington St.
Atlanta, Ga. – Saturday, July 4, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the capitol building located at 206 Washington St.
Augusta, Ga. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Gainesville, Ga. – Wednesday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., downtown Gainesville
Savannah, Ga. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., location to be announced
Honolulu, Hawaii – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the state capitol building
Boise, Idaho – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., at the state capitol building
Burley, Idaho – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., Overland Bridge over the Snake River just off exit 208
Idaho Falls, Idaho – Wednesday, April 15, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., downtown Idaho Fall
Urbana, Ill. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., location to be determined
Chicago, Ill. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Daley Plaza Civic Center at 50 Washington St.
Chicago, Ill. – From Saturday, July 4, at 7 p.m. to Sunday, July 5, at 5 a.m. at Belmont Harbor on Lake Shore Drive
Bloomington, Ind. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. outside the Shower’s building, corner of W 8th St. & N. Morton St.
Fort Wayne, Ind. – Saturday, April 18 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. downtown at Courthouse Square on Main Street
Indianapolis, Ind. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in downtown Indianapolis, exact location to be announced
Bettendorf, Iowa – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., 2023 Ridgeway Court
Davenport, Iowa – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 4th and Main Street (in front of office of Rep. Bruce Braley D-Iowa)
Iowa City, Iowa – Wednesday, April 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Burlington Street Bridge
Overland Park, Kan. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Johnston Community College
Wichita, Kan. – Wednesday, April 15, at 4:15 p.m. airport post office
Louisville, Ky. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Jefferson Square (tentative location), 10th and Jefferson St.
Lexington, Ky. – Saturday, March 21, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Robert Stevens Courthouse Complex, 150 North Limestone
Baton Rouge, La. – Wednesday, April 15, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the steps of the capitol building
Lake Charles, La. – Wednesday, April 15, at 5 p.m. at Lake Charles Civic Center on Lakeshore Drive
Shreveport, La. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at downtown Shreveport Riverfront
Augusta, Maine – Wednesday, April 15, at 5:30 p.m. at Capital Park
Annapolis, Md. – Wednesday, April 15, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Campbell Park on the dock/boardwalk at Annapolis Harbor
Salisbury, Md. – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at downtown Salisbury
Boston, Mass. – Wednesday, April 15, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall Plaza
Boston, Mass. – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m. at Ivy Restaurant at 49 Temple Place
Boston, Mass. – Saturday, July 4, from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Griffin Harbor on Congress Street Bridge
Newburyport, Mass. – Saturday, March 28, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., 60 Pleasant St., City Hall
Worcester, Mass. – Wednesday, April 15, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Lincoln Square (in front of the auditorium)
Bancroft. Mich. – April 11 from 9 a.m. to sundown at Camp Stasa, 7963 Cork Rd.
Lansing, Mich. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Michigan State Capitol, 100 N Capitol Ave
St. Paul, Minn. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at capitol
Jackson, Miss. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., in downtown Jackson, exact location to be determined
Jackson, Miss. – Saturday, May 16, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.on the steps of the capitol building
Joplin, Mo. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., location to be determined
Kansas City, Mo. – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., location to be determined

St. Louis, Mo. – Wednesday, April 15, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., location to be determined
Missoula, Mont. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., downtown Missoula, exact location to be announced
Lincoln, Neb. – Wednesday, April 15, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., location to be announced
Omaha, Neb.– Wednesday, April 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Bob Kerrey Memorial Pedestrian Bridge
Carson City/Reno, Nev. – Wednesday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 101 N. Carson Street in front of state capitol building and Supreme Court
Las Vegas, Nev. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., at sidewalk across from Sunset Post Office at 1001 E Sunset RD
Morristown, N.J. – Wednesday, April 15, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., location to be announced
Newark, N.J. – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m., visiting Sens. Lautenberg and Menendez offices, Gateway Center One, 782 McCarter Highway
Trenton, N.J. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at New Jersey State House, 125 W. State St.
Albuquerque, N.M. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Las Cruces, N.M. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., location to be announced
Albany, N.Y. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Corning Preserve
Buffalo, N.Y. – Saturday, March 28, at 2 p.m. at the Terminus of the Erie Canal
Fishkill, N.Y. – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Doug Phillips Park
Gardiner, N.Y. – Wednesday, April 15, from 64 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Rail Trail, Route 44/55
New York, N.Y. – Wednesday, April 15, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., location to be announced
New York, N.Y. – Saturday, July 4, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at South Street Seaport and Pier 17
Rochester, N.Y. – Wednesday, April 15, at 11 a.m. at Genesee Crossroads Park
Staten Island, N.Y. – Tuesday, March 31, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., 265 New Dorp Lane
Staten Island, N.Y. – Wednesday, April 15, at 12 p.m., Rep. Michael McMahon's office, 265 New Dorp Lane at corner of Edison Street
Asheville, N.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., in front of the Asheville City building and the Buncombe County Courthouse
Charlotte, N.C. – Saturday, April 4, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Marshall Park (uptown Charlotte)
Charlotte, N.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., City Hall lawn at 600 E. Trade Street
Edenton, N.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Edenton Courthouse Green, Court and Water Streets
Greensboro, N.C. – Wednesday, April 15, location and time to be announced
Raleigh, N.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the state capitol building on East Edenton Street
Canton, Ohio – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in downtown Canton, exact location to be announced
Cincinnati, Ohio – Saturday, March 15, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Fountain Square at the corner of Fifth and Vine Streets
Cleveland, Ohio – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Public Square, downtown Cleveland
Dayton, Ohio – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in downtown Dayton, exact location to be announced
Oklahoma City, Okla. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at state capitol step
Tulsa, Okla. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11:25 a.m. to 1:25 p.m. at Tulsa City Hall, 175 E. 2nd
Bend, Ore. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Grants Pass, Ore. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Medford, Ore. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Portland, Ore. – Wednesday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., location to be announced
Roseburg, Ore. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Salem, Ore. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at capitol building, in the park
Harrisburg, Pa. – Wednesday, April 15, at 12 p.m. west steps of capitol building
Philadelphia, Pa. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at downtown Philadelphia, exact location to be announced
Philadelphia, Pa. – Saturday, April 18, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Independence Hall
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at downtown Pittsburgh, exact location to be announced
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Saturday, April 11, at 12 p.m. at Allegheny Landing
Providence, R.I. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at state capitol steps (city side across from Providence Place Mall)
Charleston, S.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Old Customs House building, East Bay St. and Market St.
Columbia, S.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. at state house, 1101 Gervals Street
Sioux Falls, S.D. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Terrace Park, Coval Lake (free lunch and entertainment)
Memphis, Tenn. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., location to be announced
Nashville, Tenn. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., location to be announced
Austin, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on south steps of state capitol building
Austin, Texas – Saturday, July 4, time and location to be announced
Amarillo, Texas – Saturday, March 28, 11 a.m., Randall County Annex, I-27 & Georgia
Amarillo, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m., Potter County Courthouse
Burleson, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., across the street from Wal-Mart, 951 S. W. Wilshire Blvd.
Dallas, Texas – Saturday, July 4, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Victory Park
Dallas, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., location to be announced
Dallas, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Dallas City Hall
Denton, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Courthouse on the Square, 110 W. Hickory
El Paso, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., location to be announced
Floresville, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. at courthouse
Fort Worth, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., location to be announced
Fort Worth, Texas – Saturday, July 4 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cowtown Bar & Grill
Houston, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. across street from downtown post office
Kerrville, Texas – Wednesday, April 15 at 11 a.m. at Kerrville County Courthouse at 700 Main Street
Longview, Texas – Wednesday, April 15 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Gregg County courthouse lawn
McAllen, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Midland, Texas – Saturday, April 18, 10 a.m., Vietnam memorial at Midland International Airport, local and state politicians will be present with "open mic" time for citizen
Nacogdoches, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.at downtown square
New Braunfels, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m., gather around local plaza and down Main Street into town
San Antonio, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., location to be announced
Woodlands, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., location to be announced
Tyler, Texas – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., location to be announced
Salt Lake City, Utah – Wednesday, April 15, downtown Salt Lake City, time and location to be announced

Annandale, Va. – Saturday, April 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mason District Park, 6621 Columbia Pike
Charlottesville, Va. – Wednesday, April 15, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., downtown mall by the pavilion
Richmond, Va. – Wednesday, April 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Kanawha Plaza in downtown Richmond, 8th and Canal Street
Virginia Beach, Va. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Plaza, Towne Center (across from Sen. Webb's Office)
Rutland, Vt. – Wednesday, April 15, downtown Rutland, exact time and location to be announced
Everett, Wash. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Mt. Vernon, Wash. – Wednesday, April 15, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on corner of College Way and Riverside Drive (1 block from freeway exit)
Olympia, Wash. – Wednesday, April 15, at 12 p.m. on the capitol steps
Seattle, Wash. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., Westlake Park by the arch, 410 Pine St., downtown Seattle
Spokane, Wash. – Wednesday, April 15, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., location to be announced
Vancouver, Wash. – Saturday, April 18, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Clark County Courthouse lawn
Washington, D.C. – Wednesday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Lafayette Park
Washington, D.C. – Saturday, July 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at Upper Senate Park adjacent to Capitol building on north side
Washington, D.C. – On April 1, 2009, all Americans are asked to send a teabag to Washington, D.C.
Beckley, W. Va. – Wednesday, April 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at large fountain on Neville Street, across from university book store
Charleston, W. Va. – Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m., at state capitol
Wheeling, W. Va. – Wednesday, April 15, time and location to be announced
Appleton, Wis. – Wednesday, April 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Fox Banquets, 111 E. Kimball
Madison, Wis. – Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at state capitol
Milwaukee, Wis. – Wednesday, March 25, 9 a.m., Wisconsin State Fair Park
Cheyenne, Wyo. – July 4, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the state capitol building

Because The Russians Have Always Had Good Economic Ideas

At G20, Kremlin to Pitch New Currency\

March 2009By Ira Iosebashvili / The Moscow Times

The Kremlin published its priorities Monday for an upcoming meeting of the G20, calling for the creation of a supranational reserve currency to be issued by international institutions as part of a reform of the global financial system. The International Monetary Fund should investigate the possible creation of a new reserve currency, widening the list of reserve currencies or using its already existing Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, as a "superreserve currency accepted by the whole of the international community," the Kremlin said in a statement issued on its web site. The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement the existing official reserves of member countries. The Kremlin has persistently criticized the dollar's status as the dominant global reserve currency and has lowered its own dollar holdings in the last few years. Both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have repeatedly called for the ruble to be used as a regional reserve currency, although the idea has received little support outside of Russia. Analysts said the new Kremlin proposal would elicit little excitement among the G20 members. "This is all in the realm of fantasy," said Sergei Perminov, chief strategist at Rye, Man and Gore. "There was a situation that resembled what they are talking about. It was called the gold standard, and it ended very badly. "Alternatives to the dollar are still hard to find," he said. The Kremlin's call for a common currency is not the first in recent days. Speaking at an economic conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, last week, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed a global currency called the "acmetal" -- a conflation of the words "acme" and "capital." He also suggested that the Eurasian Economic Community, a loose group of five former Soviet republics including Kazakhstan and Russia, adopt a single noncash currency -- the yevraz -- to insulate itself from the global economic crisis. The suggestions received a lukewarm response from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday. Nazarbayev's proposal did, however, garner support from at least one prominent source -- Columbia University professor Robert Mundell, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1999 for his role in creating the euro. Speaking at the same conference with Nazarbayev, he said the idea had "great promise." The Kremlin document also called for national banks and international financial institutions to diversify their foreign currency reserves. It said the global financial system should be restructured to prevent future crises and proposed holding an international conference after the G20 summit to adopt conventions on a new global financial structure. The Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries will meet in London on April 2.

One World Currency All The Rage Amongst The Elites

One-world currency emerges ... again'Acmetal' considered as solution to global economic recession
Posted: March 16, 20093:32 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily
Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium online newsletter published by the current No. 1 best-selling author, WND staff writer and columnist. Subscriptions are $99 a year or $9.95 per month for credit card users. Annual subscribers will receive a free autographed copy of "The Obama Nation," the blueprint for Obama's first term in office.
Canadian economist and Nobel-prize winning professor Robert Mundell, who is credited with formulating the intellectual basis for creating the euro, is pushing for a one-world currency, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
"This prominent endorsement is yet another indication that globalists are advancing global governance and structures, including the idea of a global currency, as solutions to the worldwide economic recession," Corsi writes.
Mundell has endorsed Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev's idea to create the "acmetal" as a world currency.

"I must say that I agree with President Nazarbayev on his statement and many of the things he said in his plan, the project he made for the world currency, and I believe I'm right on track with what he is saying," Mundell told the Australian News.
Nazarbayev and Mundell called on the G-20 to form a working group to study the proposal at its April 2 meeting in London.
Nazarbayev explained that his coining of the name "acmetal" comes from the Greek word "acme," meaning "peak" or "best," and "capital."
A one-world currency presupposes the creation of a one-world central bank that would manage the currency, thereby superseding the authority of nation-state central banks, such as the Federal Reserve in the United States and the European Union Central Bank, Corsi writes.
As WND reported, Benn Steil, a senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council of Foreign Relations, wrote in the May/June 2007 issue of the Council of Foreign Relations' Foreign Affairs magazine an article entitled, "The end of national currency," in which his major conclusion was that "countries should abandon monetary nationalism." Steil tempered his embrace of one-world currency, writing, "Governments should replace national currencies with the dollar or the euro or, in the case of Asia, collaborate to produce a new multinational currency over a comparably large and economically diversified area."
Red Alert has reported that the finance chiefs of five of the six-member, oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council approved a proposal to create a monetary union as a move toward adopting a single currency.
The six Islamic states constituting the Gulf Cooperation Council are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In 2002, the finance ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council states sought out the assistance of the European Central Bank as the model for their single currency.
WND has also documented a move by the 53-nation African Union to create an African continental currency called "the gold Mandela."
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox also confirmed on CNN's Larry King television show in October 2007 a plan he conceived with President Bush to create a new regional currency in the Americas.

Even Socialist-Dems Want To Come Up For Air

Some Dems want brake in Obama plans

Ben Smith and Manu Raju March 18, 2009 04:13 AM EST
Barack Obama’s Big Bang Theory of Governance is starting to face its first big test among the new president’s fellow Democrats. At the White House Tuesday morning, Obama began the day with a sharp push-back against the idea that his uncommonly ambitious agenda on health care, energy and other initiatives is too much, too soon. As Obama’s remarks echoed on Capitol Hill, it soon became clear that the skeptics are not just Republicans. There is rising doubt among Democrats — particularly moderates already concerned about the big costs and deficits called for in Obama’s budget — that either Obama or Washington have enough bandwidth this year to stimulate the economy, overhaul the failed financial sector and move on to a far-reaching domestic agenda. “From the standpoint of the Congress, there’s only so much that we can absorb and do at one time,” Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, told POLITICO Tuesday. “To maintain a schedule like the one we’ve got at this moment, throughout the year, I don’t know if it will be healthy.”

Democrats’ comments were muted, with few directly criticizing Obama for being too ambitious. But several lawmakers made clear that they have trouble with Obama’s logic that deep economic troubles make it more urgent, not less, to take on expensive projects such as health care and education reform. “Everybody has to bring something to the table,” said Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a leader of a 15-member caucus of conservative and centrist Democrats. “That doesn’t mean that you have to postpone your aspirations forever. But until we’re through this crisis and growth has resumed, there’s going to be some belt-tightening that’s necessary.” These doubts reflect conflicting currents in Obama’s political circumstances just 60 days into his administration. A majority of the public supports his hit-the-gas approach to his first year, according to polls. But it is clear that even in a period of one-party dominance in Washington, many ostensible allies are calculating how they can hit the brakes. “You are going to see some of that happen naturally,” said Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), explaining that some of Obama’s agenda — such as climate change — may fall by the wayside because there’s not enough support for it, not because it’s too much to tackle.“This isn’t going to be an automatic ‘yes’ vote for a lot of people,” Webb added. Beneath Tuesday’s dueling perspectives at the White House and on Capitol Hill lay a basic strategic debate about how new presidents should maximize their influence. Historically, one approach has been that presidents do best by concentrating their force behind one or two big issues. The other approach is to try to do as much as possible, as fast as possible — the so-called Big Bang — on the theory that there will never be a better chance.

Obama, acknowledging that the sick economy has made his task more difficult, said he won’t trim his sails. “The American people don’t have the luxury of just focusing on Wall Street. They don’t have the luxury of choosing to pay either their mortgage or their medical bills. They don’t get to pick between paying for their kid’s college tuition and saving enough money for retirement. They have to do all these things. They have to confront all these problems, and as a consequence, so do we.” So far, poll numbers show people on his side. A Pew Poll released Monday http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/498.pdf found that 56 percent of Americans rejected the criticism that Obama is “trying to do too much” — that number was just slightly below his still-high overall job approval in the survey. Most of the criticism on that front, the survey found, came from Republicans, as 77 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents said he is either “doing about right” or doing “too little.” “Obama [is] not seen as overextended,” the pollsters wrote. But many lawmakers made clear Tuesday their view that voters’ willingness to trust Obama on some subjects will be determined by their view of how well he handles the economic crisis. That judgment, in turn, will be shaped by whether the White House effectively responds to public outrage over large bonuses to executives at bailed-out American International Group.
“Unless we can instill some trust back with the American people that these people who brought on this problem, who risked our 401K funds and hard-working people’s money, aren’t going to be able to profit from their folly, I think we are at risk of losing their trust,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
This week’s AIG uproar showed how the financial crisis confounded early hopes that Obama could check his crisis boxes — a banking bailout and economic stimulus bill — and then turn swiftly to the policy proposals he’d promised on the campaign trial. Instead, the crisis continues to buffet the White House in unpredictable ways. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has struggled to present a steady public persona, produce detailed plans and even appoint senior staff. Press secretary Robert Gibbs’ daily briefing was consumed by AIG questions. And Republicans have begun to cast those crises in terms of an effort to do too much. “Job One has got to be the economy,” said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). “I know that you have to use the first part of your administration to accomplish a lot of things, but it just seems to me that there’s been a very big lack of focus. I think that getting the right team in place at Treasury would have seemed to me to have been Job One in November. Here we are in March and we still don’t have a team in place to have there with Secretary Geithner. We’re talking about big lofty things, but we’re leaving behind some of the basics. It’s troubling.”
White House officials and their allies have a simple answer to this complaint: They had no real choice. Underneath the cheerful rhetoric that opportunity is to be found in crisis is the reality that Obama has only one first 100 days, they say, and he had no choice but to lay out the agenda on which his presidency will be judged. “One of the problems is that people are reading this as some sort of strategic tactic, but it really doesn’t work that way — it’s a substantive imperative,” said a White House official, who argued that some of the policy items — notably health care — would have proceeded on the Hill with or without the White House’s shaping. “We can either put our stamp on it and shape it or deal with it on the back end,” the official said. Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist close to the administration, said the administration’s choice to dive into health care and other policy issues was driven by a sense of real crisis. “The house is on fire. At the same time the house is on fire, the kids have gone missing and the cows have broken out of the pasture. It’s not like you can just address one of those,” he said, arguing — as did White House officials — that increasing health care costs could derail an economic recovery. Begala cited the examples of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson as presidents whose ambitious early agendas paid off. “He’s on the right side of history, and most people believe that this president does not have a choice.” But one member of the Senate’s centrist caucus said it is only realistic that Obama and other Democrats will need to yield on some of their hopes. “There will be sacrifices in the sense that the growth in the budget won’t be at the level that some people would like,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). While Obama is facing rising skepticism within his party, he clearly has the support of most Democrats for doing more, rather than less, in Year One. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said Obama is wise to think big and said that the ambitious agenda is critical for the number of crises the country is facing. “Education is the key to the long-term economic recovery, because health care is a drag on the current costs for businesses, so you have to do those as part of your economic recovery,” he said. “That agenda is a growth agenda. It is absolutely our economic future.”

UBS Is On Board With Gold!

UBS suggests gold has potential US$2,500/oz upside
Despite the worst global recession in 70 years, UBS has upgraded commodities from underweight to a small overweight, especially in precious metals.

UBS Investment Research has moved gold to overweight from neutral, citing the "broad uncertainties in the current macroclimate."
In their Q-Series: Gold research, analysts Daniel Brebner and James Luke, strategist John Reade and economist Larry Hatheway said they have determined that "future returns on gold are likely to be positively asymmetric, with potential upside US$2,500/oz."
The team also suggested that the current environment as "having a ‘low margin of error' for central bankers."
"We would characterize the prospects for deflation/inflation as becoming more extreme, and have illustrated this concept as a wider than usual probability cone for inflationary outcomes. The higher potential for policy error is generating considerable interest in certain assets that are perceived as ‘stores of values', including gold," they said.
In their analysis, UBS forecast downside risks up until the year 2015 being limited to a probability cone of caUS$500/oz (down ca50% from current levels) vs. upside risks of a probability cone of caUS$2,5000/oz (ca160%).
The "opportunity cost" that investors experience in holding gold bullion is declining, UBS asserts, which is generating some capital inflows into the commodity; "furthermore, given the current deflationary pressures it is possible that this cost could continue to decline over the near term."
UBS also suggests that central banks are not likely to sell much gold. "With the cost of fixing the global financial system likely to run into the multi-trillions of dollars, the utility of gold fixing this gaping hole needs to be seriously questioned, at least in the sense that selling reserves would not bring sufficient revenues to make a difference."
Furthermore, the analysts advise, "if a central bank were to sell gold in large quantities there would potentially be the risk that, despite the recognition that its currency was not backed by gold, confidence could deteriorate further."
"Even more dangerous for a central bank being a large seller would be the appearance of a large buyer," they added. "If, for instance, an Asian or Middle Eastern central bank were to bid for a large tonnage of gold, the implications would potentially be: (1) highly supportive for the gold price; and (2) a potential political powder keg for the seller."
Meanwhile, although there is a possibility the IMF could sell gold to fund economic bailouts, UBS asserts "a potential sale is likely to be well flagged to the market, thus not significantly impacting the gold impart."
Although investors question if a new gold standard will be adopted to support flagging currencies, UBS analysts also do not believe that proponents of a return to the gold standard have made much headway due to institutional, economic, and political reasons.

Like We've Said, Obama Has the Economic Ability Of Jimmy Carter

Economists Give Obama Low Marks
Reuters

(March 12) – President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to revive the world's largest economy, according to participants in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.
A majority of the 49 economists polled said they were dissatisfied with the administration's economic policies, according to the paper, a stark contrast to Obama's popularity ratings with the general public.
On average, the economists gave the president a grade of 59 out of 100, and although there was a broad range of marks, 42 percent of respondents rated Obama below 60, the paper said.

Geithner received an average grade of 51, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke scored better, with an average 71, the paper said.
On average, the economists now expect the economic downturn to end in October, according to the paper. In the previous survey, they had expected the bottom would arrive in August.
The economists' main criticism of the Obama team centered on delays in enacting key parts of plans to rescue banks, the paper said.

The economists' negative ratings mark a turnaround in opinion, the paper said. In December, before Obama took office, three-quarters of respondents said the incoming administration's economic team was better than the departing team under former President George W. Bush.
Geithner's latest marks are lower than the average grade of 57 that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson received in January, the paper said.
"We have taken an unprecedented level of action toward economic recovery, accomplishing in weeks what took other countries years to do," the paper cited Treasury spokesman Isaac Baker as saying.
"While Wall Street and investors were disappointed when they didn't get a sweeping bank bailout, we've laid out a plan to stabilize the financial system while protecting the taxpayer and ensuring government funds are spent wisely," Baker said, according to the paper.
"This crisis was years in the making, and it will take time to solve."

Ron Paul: They're Working On A One World Government!

Ron Paul with the only news you need to hear!