Stop SOPA Now

The end of free speech on the internet is the dream of every tyrannical government on earth, including ours.

Right now, there are two pieces of legislation in Congress that would change the Internet forever if they are enacted. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would give the federal government the ability to potentially shut down millions of websites. 

SOPA (the version being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives) is the more dangerous of the two. It would essentially be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb being dropped on the Internet. It would give government officials unlimited power to very rapidly shut down any website that is found to "engage in, enable or facilitate" copyright infringement. That language is very broad and very vague. Many fear that it will be used to shut down any websites that even inadvertently link to "infringing material". 

Can you imagine a world where there is no more Facebook, Twitter or YouTube? Sites like those would be forced to hire thousands of Internet censors to make sure that no "infringing material" is posted, and many prominent websites may simply decide that allowing users to post content is no longer profitable and is just not worth the hassle. 

Are you starting to get the picture? That is why we must stop SOPA. If SOPA is enacted, it could be the death of the free Internet

If Money Talks, Ron Paul Walks (Uh-oh)

If Money Talks, Ron Paul Walks (Uh-oh)

Guess who the Banksters' favorite Republican candidate is? (Big "surprise," by the way.) While the donations for both candidates reflect all individual donations in the corporations and the armed services (i.e., not necessarily the corporation owners and the top military brass), this is still a very telling comparison.

The American War-Machine, A Lesson in Blowback

The Ten Principles of a Free Society, by Ron Paul

1. Rights belong to individuals, not groups; they derive from our nature and can neither be granted nor taken away by government.

2. All peaceful, voluntary economic and social associations are permitted; consent is the basis of the social and economic order.

3. Justly acquired property is privately owned by individuals and voluntary groups, and this ownership cannot be arbitrarily voided by governments.

4. Government may not redistribute private wealth or grant special privileges to any individual or group.

5. Individuals are responsible for their own actions; government cannot and should not protect us from ourselves.

6. Government may not claim the monopoly over a people's money and governments must never engage in official counterfeiting, even in the name of macroeconomic stability.

7. Aggressive wars, even when called preventative, and even when they pertain only to trade relations, are forbidden.

8. Jury nullification, that is, the right of jurors to judge the law as well as the facts, is a right of the people and the courtroom norm.

9. All forms of involuntary servitude are prohibited, not only slavery but also conscription, forced association, and forced welfare distribution.

10. Government must obey the law that it expects other people to obey and thereby must never use force to mold behavior, manipulate social outcomes, manage the economy, or tell other countries how to behave.

The War Propaganda Party

Butler Shaffer shows why Ron Paul alone refuses to join The War Propaganda Party.

Ron Paul is one candidate for the presidency who need not fear having to defend himself as a propagandist for war. Each of the others will have to decide whether their ambitions for that office are such that they are willing to be promoters of the war system as a prerequisite for the establishment selecting them. Those who answer "yes" to that question – along with those members of the lockstep media who play their part in war-mongering – might also consider the costs of constructing a bunker to which they can retreat should there be a turn in the fortunes of war.

The Coming Break-Up of the Nation-State by Gary North

Gary North writes:

There are signs that the social and intellectual world created by the Renaissance and extended by the Enlightenment – right wing and left wing – is nearing its own final days. This is marked by the crisis of the democratic nation-state. It faces these crises:

1. The bankruptcy of its welfare programs for the aged

2. Rising rates of violent crime

3. The failure in the United States of tax-funded education, K-12

4. The bankruptcy of the American empire

5. The loss of legitimacy of the democratic nation-state

6. The break-up of the European federation and euro

7. The failure of the United Nations Organization

8. The rapid extension of Islam in Western Europe

9. Falling white birthrates in the West: below replacement rate

10. The decline of historical knowledge among the West's elite

11. Loss of faith in the idea of progress

12. No replacements for the church and the nation-state 

13. Boredom

Gary continues: 

Chapter 9 of [Robert Nisbet's] book, Progress at Bay, discusses the evidence for the loss of faith in the West regarding the future. He writes:

Behind this spreading atmosphere of guilt and loss of meaning or purpose in the West and its heritage lies a constant erosion of faith in Western institutions; not just political but social, cultural, and religious institutions. Hardly a week passes without some fresh poll or survey indicating still greater loss of respect by Americans and Europeans for government, church, school, profession, industry, the media, and other once respected institutions – and, naturally, those who in one or other degree preside over or represent that these institutions (p. 332).

If there was a single source of this loss of faith it was Charles Darwin. His concept of unplanned biological change rested on his denial of any purpose in the universe prior to man.

The issue of progress is intimately tied to the idea of morality. 

We cannot separate the doctrine of the idea of progress from morality, which in turn is established through faith in God, who provides both purpose and meaning for the universe. 

The heart of Darwin's theory is that nature has no autonomous purpose... not structured to benefit man, and man must struggle against the forces of nature in order to retain his dominance in nature.  There is nothing outside of man that gives support to man... that guarantees man's success in extending his rule over nature in history.   

There is also no sovereign God who oversees the affairs of men, which has been the belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the beginning.  Man is cut off from any source of positive or negative sanctions in response to a transcendent system of morals.  

If God is not dead, he is ebbing away, and has been since the early part of the century. We have, in Jonathan Swift's coruscating words, "just enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love one another" – or, enough to make us see the flaws and cankers of the society around us but not enough to generate hope for the future. 

Ron Paul Ad - Washington Machine

American Wealth Eroding by Bill Sardi

Bill Sardi states that:

In dollar terms, what does Presidential Candidate Ron Paul mean when he says: "The standard of living is going down for a lot of people on fixed incomes." What does Mr. Paul mean when he says this is what happens when "a country destroys its money" and "destroys or eliminates the middle class." What does that mean in dollars and cents? 

It means the American people are aggregately losing the value of their banked money at the rate of $16,881 per second, $970,904 per minute, $58,254,253 per hour, $1.398 billion per day, or $510,304,260,000 per year (that’s $510 billion!). That is the most conservative figure, based upon a 7% rate of inflation. The erosion of American wealth could be as high as $780 billion/year if a higher 10% inflation rate is employed.

Whether Or Not We Are Believers

All Americans have a huge stake in Christianity and Christmas, says Paul Craig Roberts

All Americans have a huge stake in Christianity. Whether or not we are individually believers in Christ, we are beneficiaries of the moral doctrine that has curbed power and protected the weak.

Be we religious or be we not, our celebration of Christ's birthday celebrates a religion that made us masters of our souls and of our political life on Earth. Such a religion as this is worth holding on to even by atheists.

RealClearMarkets - Exactly What Is Crony Capitalism, Anyway?

Bill Frezza explains...

Some defenders of capitalism draw a sharp distinction between those who obtained their wealth through government favors and those who created their wealth by satisfying willing customers through free exchange. The former are called Crony Capitalists. The latter, interestingly enough, don't have a name. Let's call them Market Capitalists. 

All capitalism is driven by... the desire to not only achieve economic security, but to amass pools of capital beyond one's basic needs. This capital can fuel the kind of conspicuous consumption that offends egalitarians. But it also finances investments in new products and businesses, without which the economy cannot grow. More on that later. 

What makes Crony Capitalists different is their willingness to use the coercive powers of government to gain an advantage they could not earn in the market. This can come in the form of regulations that favor them while hindering competitors, laws that restrict entry into their markets, and government-sponsored cartels that fix prices, grant monopolies, or both. 

Crony Capitalists are also more than happy to help themselves to money from the public treasury. This can come from wasteful or unnecessary spending programs that turn government into a captive customer, subsidies that flow directly into their coffers, or mandates that force consumers to buy their products.

If China Attacks America (JUST IMAGINE)

Activist Post: The Phases of an Empire

David Redick states that:

"All empires and "Imperial Style" governments have failed throughout history, and... our Empire-USA faces the same fate. The only question is whether the people and government of the USA have the wisdom and will to engage in a "Managed Decline" by terminating the empire and imperial conduct on their own schedule, rather than by chaotic crash of the US Dollar, economy, and lifestyle." 

You Like Ron Paul, Except on Foreign Policy

The American Answer to Tyranny

Ron Holland on the role of the states:

Just following Congress, the 2012 presidential campaign and the inability of citizens to influence government policy makes it clear to every American how broken the US political system has become. A few powerful interests run the entire show and the American people are being forced down a dark road to economic destruction. History shows us that Washington is immune to conventional national political action under the present system. Therefore what can freedom loving Americans do?

• We can’t change Washington because Congress is owned and controlled by special interests.

• Neither can we take over the establishment control of either political party as the media elites can break, sideline or ignore any candidate that threatens the elite interests.

• Third party efforts at the national level are doomed to failure and an ineffective tool for promoting freedom principles when compared to the successful Ron Paul campaign effort inside the GOP.

• Finally education although important is not a fast enough solution to save our nation when more than 50% of the electorate lives off the looting of taxpayers through government benefits or make work jobs.

So do freedom advocates just give up or wait for the eventual collapse of the economy and the US political system? While this is a prevalent view in freedom circles, hyperinflation and economic collapse even if you are invested to financially benefit from this outcome is certainly not a recipe for restoring limited government and liberty to our country. Fascism and wealth confiscation are the probable result, just look at what followed the failed German Weimar Republic in the 1930’s. 

There is only one effective, democratic and peaceful tool left for Americans to defend their liberties and restore the original republic of our founding fathers. It is the right of state sovereignty and nullification so effectively explained by Tom Woods in his book Nullification: How To Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21^st Century.

Lew Rockwell: Welcome to Unlimited Military Detention.

In this article by Gary Barnett, he states that...

The natural rights... come from no piece of parchment. For if men can give rights by constitution, then those rights can legally be taken away. That is much of the problem, for when we look to a political document to see what we are allowed to do, then we have already lost our sovereignty.

Improving Upon the Occupy Movement « LewRockwell.com Blog

This was Posted by Butler Shaffer on December 13, 2011 11:19 AM

The OWS movement is fated to be ineffective because it lacks focus. Large numbers of people show up to complain about such a wide variety of matters that no message really comes through. 

What if institutionalism — the belief that political, corporate, religious, educational, and other established systems that presume the priority of their interests over those of individuals — were to be seen as the threat to human well-being? Instead of complaining about isolated government programs or agencies, the Occupiers could voice opposition to the entire institutional order! 

And instead of standing in streets and parks for days at a time, they might consider employing "flash mobs" as peaceful means of communication. What if, in one city after another, and at times likely to get the most attention, large numbers of people were to instantly gather in front of a federal building, corporate office, university, or other institution and emulate the practice seen on a number of YouTube videos: peacefully dancing and singing an orchestrated, liberating message — perhaps "We Shall Overcome" could be resurrected. After 4 or 5 minutes of such a performance, the "flash mob" would disperse, its participants returning from whence they had come. By the time the institutional enforcement bullies found out about and descended upon the scene, the entire ceremony would be over; SWAT teams would find nothing but empty streets to gas, pepper-spray, and barricade!

The Essence of Crony 'Capitalism'

The Free Market versus Crony "Capitalism," by Mario Rizzo

NEWT GINGRICH IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE

Part 1: Newt Supports Big Government

Part 2: Gingrich Explains His Support for Individual Health Mandate (aka ObamaCare)

Part 3: Gingrich Supported Rockefeller Over Goldwater

Part 4: Newt Gingrich a “Wilsonian”

Part 5: Columnist George Will explains why Newt Gingrich is not conservative from an intellectual and temperamental perspective

Part 6:  Newt Supports Gun Control

Part 7:  "Principled Leadership" of Newt

Part 8:  Newt Co-Sponsored 418 Bills with Nancy Pelosi

Jon Stewart on the Coming Imprisonment of American Dissidents Terrorists

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Lew Rockwell: Banks, Wars, Nightsticks

Banks, Wars, Nightsticks
Lawrence Lepard on what's happening, and what we can do about it.

If you are worried about the direction of this Country you are not alone. As Gallup reports, "a record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years."

Lew Rockwell: The Obama Regime Has No Scruples

The Obama Regime Has No Scruples
Constitutional or otherwise. Article by Paul Craig Roberts.

"During an interview with RT on December 1, I said that the US Constitution had been shredded by the failure of the US Senate to protect American citizens from the detainee amendment sponsored by Republican John McCain and Democrat Carl Levin to the Defense Authorization Bill. The amendment permits indefinite detention of US citizens by the US military. I also gave my opinion that the fact that all but two Republican members of the Senate had voted to strip American citizens of their constitutional protections and of the protection of the Posse Comitatus Act indicated that the Republican Party had degenerated into a Gestapo Party.These conclusions are self-evident, and I stand by them.
It is clear that the Obama regime objects to military detention, and I mistook this objection for constitutional scruples.
However, on further reflection I conclude that the Obama regime’s objection to military detention is not rooted in concern for the constitutional rights of American citizens. The regime objects to military detention because the implication of military detention is that detainees are prisoners of war.  

Detainees treated according to the laws of war have the protections of the Geneva Conventions. They cannot be tortured.The Obama regime opposes military detention, because detainees would have some rights.  

These rights would interfere with the regime’s ability to send detainees to CIA torture prisons overseas. This is what the Obama regime means when it says that the requirement of military detention denies the regime "flexibility."
The Bush/Obama regimes have evaded the Geneva Conventions by declaring that detainees are not POWs, but "enemy combatants," "terrorists," or some other designation that removes all accountability from the US government for their treatment. 

By requiring military detention of the captured, Congress is undoing all the maneuvering that two regimes have accomplished in removing POW status from detainees.
A careful reading of the Obama regime’s objections to military detention supports this conclusion.

In other words, the regime is saying that under AUMF the executive branch has total discretion as to who it detains and how it treats detainees. Moreover, as the executive branch has total discretion, no one can find out what the executive branch is doing, who detainees are, or what is being done to them. Codification brings accountability, and the executive branch does not want accountability."

The NDAA bill was eventually passed by the Senate on December 15th, 2011.

Lew Rockwell: The 1st Step to Mass Murder

The 1st Step to Mass Murder
Ron Paul on the most vicious violation of free trade, US sanctions.

We should be clear about this: sanctions against Iran are definite steps toward a US attack. Already we see US warships approaching the region, moving dangerously close to Syrian waters. The tougher sanctions currently under consideration would disrupt global trade and undermine the US economy, which in turn harms our national security. Foreign companies or foreign subsidiaries of US companies would be severely punished if they did not submit to the US trade embargo on Iran. We must change our foreign policy to one of economic freedom and diplomacy. That is the only way to promote peace and prosperity. This race to war against Iran and Syria is both foolhardy and dangerous.

Newt Gingrich: Serial Hypocrisy

Who Can You Trust?

Ron Paul Explains His Plan For Monetary Freedom And Returning To The Gold Standard

Americans, Listen to the Ruling Elite... Give Up Your Wealth for Nothing by Michael S. Rozeff

Mr. Rozeff, writing in LewRockwell.com, states that:

Preventing this or any region from being used as a base for terror is not a vital U.S. security interest...   

This strategy is so important and such an important component of U.S. policy that I give it a name. I call is the Denial of Region or DOR strategy. 

Denial of Region or DOR is a central feature of the anti-terror strategy that has guided American policy in both the Bush and Obama administrations...  the DOR strategy hasn’t succeeded. 

Why has the DOR strategy not met with success in Afghanistan?  

If the DOR strategy that the U.S. follows doesn’t diminish terrorism and actually enhances it, and if it destabilizes whole countries and regions, isn’t that enough to cast this doctrine aside? 

There is one more thing, and that is the outlandish cost of it. Afghanistan alone has cost over $0.5 trillion in cash plus the many killed and wounded and it’s not over yet.Let’s shed some light on how wasteful this spending is. The Oklahoma City bombing took 168 lives. Wrongful death settlements vary in America, but suppose we use $10 million. This is a generous figure. Then the monetary compensation to survivors if these were wrongful death claims comes to $10 million x 168 = $1.7 billion. But the war in Afghanistan has already claimed 1,400 lives and over 15,000 injured and, on top of that, cost 328 times $1.7 billion! 

In other words, ask yourself if the war in Afghanistan has prevented the equivalent of 328 Oklahoma City bombings, not even counting the 1,400 dead? 

To my way of thinking, the Afghanistan war is all cost and no benefit. 

Ask yourself how much good or how much safety American could have purchased here at home for the $557 billion spent in Afghanistan?

Decline and Fall?

Yup, says Jeff Berwick.

Americans get tazed, pepper sprayed, beaten and caged on a regular basis, they are beginning to realize that the land of the free and home of the brave was a catchy jingle from centuries ago. It is now the land of the fee, home of the slave.

Let the Sucker Go Down

Gary North on the one way to handle Big Banks, Big Governments, Big Debts.

The ECB [European Central Bank] does not want hyperinflation or a Great Depression. The alternative is the transfer of capital to PIIGS [countries with very high sovereign debts] on a long-term basis. The states will absorb the savings of the region.

Those who made the risky bets have diverted the risk to others: taxpayers or the general public who holds currency. The gains from the bets are private, and theirs to keep, but all the losses are distributed to the public via government bailouts or money-printing. 

The first shifts the losses to the taxpayer, and the second shifts the losses to everyone holding the currency being devalued.  Smith describes what has been done to voters by the bankers by way of the politicians. There is nothing new here. It goes back to Walter Bagehot's description of "moral hazard" in the mid-nineteenth century.

MORAL HAZARD, put another way, is the approach (lobbying, fuzzy accounting, etc.) of corporations to keep most of their profits when the getting is good, but "socialize" the losses when sales and asset prices go south.

US Military Troops and Bases Around the World

Note the white areas where the US Military has YET to gain "influence".  For those that are geographically inept, that means countries like Iran. 

Map will be updated monthly.  Libya soon to be red, or at least tinkled pink...

New poll shows 4-way tie in Iowa as Ron Paul moves to top tier - - CBS News

NBC reports that:

The Iowa caucuses are just seven weeks away, but Republican voters in the nation's first presidential nominating state seem as torn as ever over the GOP field.A new Bloomberg poll of likely caucus participants shows a four-way tie in Iowa, with Rep. Ron Paul joining Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain in the top tier of candidates. Underscoring the uncertainty in the race, 60 percent of respondents said they could be persuaded to back someone other than their first choice for the nomination.

Reasons Why Dr. Ron Paul Should Not Be President by Bill Fangio

Bill Fangio writes:

"If it is the case that elected officials reflect the desires of the voters then we are in a world of hurt. Andy Cobb and the Partisans recently appeared at a rally carrying a sign that read, Obama is a Keynesian. Many were outraged and took Cobb to task for suggesting that President Obama was from Kenya. And, there is the American electorate for you – they don't know the difference between a country and an economic system.

These same people populate the comment strings whenever there is a news story regarding Dr. Ron Paul for President. Here are some of their reasons why Paul should not be President."

Republican Party Candidates in Four-Way Dead Heat - Bloomberg

"Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are in a dead heat as the top choices for Iowans likely to attend the Jan. 3 Republican presidential caucuses."

Ron Paul on MSNBC Morning Joe - 11/3/11: Fed is finally ‘on the defensive’

Key Quote from Ron Paul:

"It's [US Economy] not a budget problem, but a philosophy problem."

Newt Gingrich, book-shilling faux candidate, surges - Salon.com

"In last night's [November 9th, 2011] hallucinatory GOP presidential debate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich did his usual blustery free-associative word-barrage routine that for years convinced numerous reporters and pundits that he was somehow an intellectual statesman. The highlight was probably when Gingrich was asked what he'd done to earn his consulting firm a $300,000 contract from Freddie Mac. Gingrich insisted the money was for history lectures. That is not really the case."

two words: kettle. black.

did he really just use the words "spoiled" and "more economic sanctions" in the same sentence? ya, he kinda did.

Ron Paul Still Top Tier; Some Ponder a Third-Party Bid

"Despite an utter lack of fair coverage in the mainstream media, Texas Congressman Ron Paul continues to hold his own in the race for the GOP primary. In fact, Paul may be doing even better than some are aware. According to a survey conducted by Real Clear Politics, Ron Paul is the only other GOP presidential contender besides frontrunner Mitt Romney to have a chance at defeating President Obama in a 2012 presidential race."

CNN Defends the Fed – Calls Ron Paul Economically Illiterate

From the Daily Bell:

Dominant Social Theme: When it comes to economics, Ron Paul doesn't know what he's talking about.

Free-Market Analysis: So here comes Dr. Michael Salemi to defend central banking from Ron Paul. And where does his defense appear? On CNN, of course, the pre-eminent US media mouthpiece for the Anglosphere power elite.The more CNN sinks in the ratings, the more support it gets. It's kind of the anti-news channel in this regard or perhaps the media's most prominent example of the Peter Principal (outside of AOL, another elite-controlled outfit). CNN is constantly failing upward, along with CIA-trained Anderson Cooper.

Nov 2, 2011 Ain't no Chairs Bob Moriarty 321gold ...s ...inc

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/moriarty/moriarty110211.html

Here are the facts. There is $195 trillion dollars of debt in the world but only $150 trillion in assets. That assumes there isn't trillions more of debt hidden in the $600 trillion in derivatives. I suspect the debt may be far higher than anyone anticipates today.
The debt cannot be paid, even if the entire load is dumped like bales of hay onto the backs of the taxpaying camels. The debt must be written off and governments, like corporations and families, must learn to live within their budgets. We cannot float in a sea of debt attached to an anchor of unpaid obligations.
No one in the United States has done the math on the obligations the Federal Reserve dumped on the backs of Americans since 2008 else they would be carrying pitchforks and hot tubs of tar to the local OWS rally. If you assume 330 million Americans and $16 trillion in loans from the Fed, that is $48,000 and change per every American. Will that ever be paid back? No.
I made the comment years ago that the $600 trillion in derivatives is like a game of musical chairs in a giant casino with people playing with Monopoly money. Well, the music stopped in September of 2008 and there ain't no chairs.
The world economy is in a minefield where each day another unforeseen mine explodes. The Dexia Bank, Belgium's largest, which passed the fake stress tests with the highest ratings, crashed a few weeks ago. I cannot help but be reminded of the failure of the Credit-Anstalt Bank of Austria that crashed in May of 1931 and led to a series of cascading bank failures and eventually to a total shutdown of all US banks in March of 1933.
I'm going to crawl out on a limb and suggest that 2012 is going to go down in history as the year of the bank failures. Every bank in the United States has been underwater since 2008 and the only reason the doors remain open is a mob psychosis insisting the King is indeed clothed. Well, he ain't and the banks will collapse.

Ron Paul on his Faith in Jesus Christ - YouTube

Lew Rockwell: The Day of Reckoning Is Coming

The Day of Reckoning Is Coming
Despite the universal blindness of the masses, says Gary North.

In contrast to the Keynesian worldview is Austrian School economic theory, which argues that there is no center. There is decentralized capital in the broadest sense: money, tools, skills, and vision. The absence of any center is the basis of creativity and growth, including job growth.

Lew Rockwell: A Warmonger and a Liar

A Warmonger and a Liar
Justin Raimondo on Herman Cain.

While the Weinering of Herman Cain continues apace, the electorate is still trying to figure out what he stands for – aside from "nine-nine-nine" and not being Mitt Romney. Since the President of the United States has more control over foreign policy than domestic affairs, one is naturally curious about his stance when it comes to the question of war and peace – and yet hisself-professed ignorance on the subject has simply added to the suspicion that the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza isn't quite ready for prime time. 

In reality, however, Cain does indeed have some very strong views when it comes to America's overseas commitments: he just doesn't want to call too much attention to them, for reasons that should become obvious as we explore his publicly available writings on the subject.Thanks to the Daily Caller, which has compiled the foreign policy related aspects of columns written by Cain over the years, we can get a glimpse inside the mind of Herman Cain, the warmonger. This characterization is confirmed by his comment that the "war on terrorism" is a conflict that "will be fought forever." Not even George W. Bush, nor even the most wigged-out neocon, was willing to concede that: according to the most pessimistic scenarios, the conflict was projected as taking place over an entire generation. This is considerably less than forever – but you have to give Cain points for his honesty, if nothing else.

The Terrifying Tale of Currency Creation

Only Ron Paul's Budget Plan Can Save the Economy | Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

Who says this? Reports ABC News: 

"Talk show host and conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh told his listeners that genuine, big spending cuts are the only things that are going to bring the U.S. economy back into balance. 'But nobody on our side's ever really seriously proposed it, and Ron Paul's going to,' said Limbaugh. 

"Who disagrees with Rush about Paul's bold $1 trillion in cuts? Reports ABC News: 

"Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and Paul's 2012 Republican rival, labeled the plan 'a non-starter. 

"Who else disagrees with Limbaugh and Paul? Reports ABC News: 

"Herman Cain, the latest Republican presidential candidate to see a surge in the polls, hinted that Paul's drastic approach to budget cutting won't work. 'If you listen to his positions on a lot of things, it's always, 'Let's throw out the baby with the bathwater,' Cain told CNN." 

Again, only big and significant cuts are going to turn this economy around. Limbaugh gets it. Gingrich and Cain not only don't get it, they won't even try.Neither will any of the other candidates. 

In the ongoing discussion about Republicans voters' choice for president this election, the media continues to gab about the supposed pros and definite cons of Cain's 9-9-9, Mitt Romney's plan to make big government more Republican, Rick Perry's new budget that changes little to nothing, and Gingrich's continuing lack of any plan yet constant recommendations that we check out his website. 

As Limbaugh has noted, even if unintentionally—real conservatives do not have multiple choices in this election.There's Ron Paul, and then there's the economically bankrupt status quo. Period.

Mitt Romney impresses House GOP at meeting - Jonathan Allen - POLITICO.com

Several dozen House Republicans grilled Mitt Romney on social issues during his visit to Capitol Hill Wednesday, including his position on abortion and gay marriage, according to attendees. 

But the former Massachusetts governor generally earned rave reviews from a set of lawmakers who have yet to make an endorsement in the GOP presidential primary. Romney sought to make a distinction between his experience as an executive in the private sector and his rivals' backgrounds. 

"He hit it out of the ballpark," said Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), who had expressed concern Tuesday about Romney's ability to counter attacks from President Barack Obama's reelection campaign. "He gave a stellar performance."

Romney may impress the Republicans in Congress, but we here at LA4Liberty are unimpressed with both of them...

University of the People – The world’s first tuition-free online university

University of the People (UoPeople) is the world's first tuition-free online university

dedicated to the global advancement and democratization of higher education. 

The University embraces the worldwide presence of the Internet and dropping technology costs to bring tuition-free academic programs within reach to millions of people around the world. 

With the support of academic leadership from top universities and a student body comprised of students from over 115 countries, UoPeople has become a tuition-free higher education global leader.

A novel idea, whose time has come...

The Higher Education Bubble

BANK OF AMERICA’S DEATH RATTLE « The Burning Platform

Bob Ivry, Hugh Son and Christine Harper have written an article that needs to be read by everyone interested in the financial crisis.  The article (available here) is entitled: BofA Said to Split Regulators Over Moving Merrill Derivatives to Bank Unit.  

The thrust of their story is that Bank of America's holding company, BAC, has directed the transfer of a large number of troubled financial derivatives from its Merrill Lynch subsidiary to the federally insured bank Bank of America (BofA).  The story reports that the Federal Reserve supported the transfer and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) opposed it.  Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism has written an appropriately blistering attack on this outrageous action, which puts the public at substantially increased risk of loss.  

During this crisis, Ken Lewis went on a buying spree designed to allow him to brag that his was not simply bigger, but the biggest.  Bank of America's holding company – BAC – became the acquirer of last resort.  Lewis began his war on BAC's shareholders by ordering an artillery salvo on BAC's own position.  What better way was there to destroy shareholder value than purchasing the most notorious lender in the world – Countrywide.  Countrywide was in the midst of a death spiral.  The FDIC would soon have been forced to pay an acquirer tens of billions of dollars to induce it to take on Countrywide's nearly limitless contingent liabilities and toxic assets. Even an FDIC-assisted acquisition would have been a grave mistake.  Acquiring thousands of Countrywide employees whose primary mission was to make fraudulent and toxic loans was an inelegant form of financial suicide.  It also revealed the negligible value Lewis placed on ethics and reputation.        

But Lewis did not wait to acquire Countrywide with FDIC assistance.  He feared that a rival would acquire it first and win the CEO bragging contest about who had the biggest, baddest bank.  His acquisition of Countrywide destroyed hundreds of billions of dollars of shareholder value and led to massive foreclosure fraud by what were now B of A employees. 

Given this context, only the Fed, and BAC, could favor the derivatives deal  

Lewis and his successor, Brian Moynihan, have destroyed nearly one-half trillion dollars in BAC shareholder value.  (See my prior post on the "Divine Right of Bank Profits…")  BAC continues to deteriorate and the credit rating agencies have been downgrading it because of its bad assets, particularly its derivatives.  BAC's answer is to "transfer" the bad derivatives to the insured bank – transforming (ala Ireland) a private debt into a public debt.  Banking regulators have known for well over a century about the acute dangers of conflicts of interest.  Two related conflicts have generated special rules designed to protect the bank and the insurance fund.  One restricts transactions with senior insiders and the other restricts transactions with affiliates.  The scam is always the same when it comes to abusive deals with affiliates – they transfer bad (or overpriced) assets or liabilities to the insured institution.  

As S&L regulators, we recurrently faced this problem.  For example, Ford Motor Company attempted to structure an affiliate transaction that was harmful to the insured S&L (First Nationwide).  The bank, because of federal deposit insurance, typically has a higher credit rating than its affiliate corporations. BAC's request to transfer the problem derivatives to B of A was a no brainer – unfortunately, it was apparently addressed to officials at the Fed who meet that description.  Any competent regulator would have said: "No, Hell NO!"  Indeed, any competent regulator would have developed two related, acute concerns immediately upon receiving the request.  

First, the holding company's controlling managers are a severe problem because they are seeking to exploit the insured institution.  Second, the senior managers of B of A acceded to the transfer, apparently without protest, even though the transfer poses a severe threat to B of A's survival.  Their failure to act to prevent the transfer contravenes both their fiduciary duties of loyalty and care and should lead to their resignations. Now here's the really bad news.  First, this transfer is a superb "natural experiment" that tests one of the most important questions central to the health of our financial system.  Does the Fed represent and vigorously protect the interests of the people or the systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) – the largest 20 banks?  We have run a real world test.  The sad fact is that very few Americans will be surprised that the Fed represented the interests of the SDIs even though they were directly contrary to the interests of the nation.  The Fed's constant demands for (and celebration of) "independence" from democratic government, combined with slavish dependence on and service to the CEOs of the SDIs has gone beyond scandal to the point of farce.  I suggest organized "laugh ins" whenever Fed spokespersons prate about their "independence." 

Second, I would bet large amounts of money that I do not have that neither B of A's CEO nor the Fed even thought about whether the transfer was consistent with the CEO's fiduciary duties to B of A (v. BAC).   

Third, reread the Bloomberg column and wrap your mind around the size of Merrill Lynch's derivatives positions.  Next, consider that Merrill is only one, shrinking player in derivatives.  

Finally, reread Yves' column in Naked Capitalism where she explains (correctly) that many derivatives cannot be used safely.  Add to that my point about how they can be used to create a "sure thing" of record fictional profits, record compensation, and catastrophic losses.  This is particularly true about credit default swaps (CDS) because of the grotesque accounting treatment that typically involves no allowances for future losses. (FASB:  you must fix this urgently or you will allow a "perfect crime.").  It is insane that we did not pass a one sentence law repealing the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000.  Between the SDIs, the massive, sometimes inherently unsafe and largely opaque financial derivatives, the appointment, retention, and promotion of failed anti-regulators, and the continuing ability of elite control frauds to loot with impunity we are inviting recurrent, intensifying crises.  I'll close with a suggestion and request to reporters.  Please find out who within the Fed approved this deal and the exact composition of the assets and liabilities that were transferred.

Ohio GOP Straw Poll Gives Ron Paul A Majority

Republicans who participated in a straw poll conducted in Columbus Saturday gave a majority of support to Ron Paul, known for libertarian party leanings. The event requires participants to pay $25 to participate giving Ohio Republicans a chance to have their voices heard in the early stage of the presidential primary nominating process.
Those who attended got to hear messages from all campaigns and then voted for their preference.
The results from the 428 participants are as follows:
Ron Paul 53.50%
Herman Cain 25.47%
Mitt Romney 8.88%
Newt Gingrich 5.37%
Rick Perry 2.80%
Jon Huntsman 2.10%
Rick Santorum .93%
Michele Bachmann .47%
Write-In .47%
Franklin County Republican Executive Committee Chair Doug Preisse said "It looks as though the presidential race will be all about Ohio, probably Central Ohio in particular."

Quote of the Day - Monday, October 24th, 2011

"It is not true that the legislator has an absolute power over our persons and our property, since they pre-exist him, and his task is to surround them with guarantees.  It is not true that the function of the law is to regulate our consciences, our ideas, our wills, our education, our opinions, our work, our trade, our talents, our recreation.  Its function is to prevent the rights of one person from interfering with rights of another in any of these matters."

— Frederick Bastiat

Reid signals government jobs must take priority over private-sector jobs - The Hill's Floor Action

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday indicated Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private-sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first-responders. 

"It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about," Reid said on the Senate floor.

Beltway Earnings Make U.S. Capital Richer Than Silicon Valley - Bloomberg

Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation's greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show. 

The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046. 

The figures demonstrate how the nation's political and financial classes are prospering as the economy struggles with unemployment above 9 percent and thousands of Americans protest in the streets against income disparity, said Kevin Zeese, director of Prosperity Agenda, a Baltimore-based advocacy group trying to narrow the divide between rich and poor. 

"There's a gap that's isolating Washington from the reality of the rest of the country," Zeese said. "They just get more and more out of touch."

Who's Who in the World of Super PACs? - OpenSecrets Blog | OpenSecrets

Three years ago during the 2008 presidential election, if a political committee wanted to run advertisements telling viewers which candidate to vote for, they would have to collect hundreds of donations of $5,000 or less. Today, a political committee has the power to make one phone call and get an unlimited amount of money from a corporation, union or individual.  

Take for example the $2 million donation made on May 27 by DreamWorks Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg to the liberal super PAC Priorities USA Action. Or the $1 million donation made on March 31 by the mysterious corporation F8 LLC in Utah to a Mitt Romney-supporting super PAC called Restore Our Future.  

Such large-dollar donations to independent political committees occurred during the 2010 midterm elections, but with the presidential campaign season in full swing expect this giving to ramp up to a whole new level.Voters will be familiar with the names of many of these news groups by the end of the 2012 election, as they spend millions of dollars on mailings, television and radio advertisements.  

These so-called "super PACs" are political committees that raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and individuals. Unlike traditional PACs, they cannot donate this money directly to candidates. Instead, they may only spend their money on independent expenditures. They may not coordinate with any candidate, and they must disclose their donors. 

Super PACs came into existence in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling inCitizens United v. Federal Election Commission. (You can read more on Citizens United here.) 

BTW, what are "independent expenditures"?