Week in review

Quote of the week

“‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’” – Matthew 26:52

The Causes, Aftermath and Lessons of 9/11

By Anthony Gregory

“The U.S. has been an interventionist empire under both parties for the better part of a century. September 11 occurred after years of such interventions. The current administration is virtually identical to the last administration in clinging to this counterproductive and unconstitutional foreign policy. At the core of this continuity is a philosophical problem, a dedication to intervention in our national culture that must be questioned and confronted. Our true hope for security and freedom lies in restoring the constitutional limits on presidential power, bringing the troops home from around the world, and restoring the republic.” more…

Priceless: How The Federal Reserve Bought The Economics Profession

by Ryan Grim

“The Federal Reserve, through its extensive network of consultants, visiting scholars, alumni and staff economists, so thoroughly dominates the field of economics that real criticism of the central bank has become a career liability for members of the profession, an investigation by the Huffington Post has found.” more… (Highly recommended).

Life In (and After) Our Great Recession

by Benjamin Schwarz

“Not to be faux-populist about it, but although such matters as the electoral turmoil in Iran, the Bernanke/Lewis he said/he said, and the bloating of the list of Oscar finalists (to take the week of June 21) constitute what Charlie Rose and his knowing ilk like to think of as the national discussion, I suspect that an altogether different set of concerns haunts the commuter driving home, is fumbled over on the AYSO sidelines, and is the chief subject across kitchen tables after the kids are put to bed. As Americans confront what has been dubbed the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression, they may be forgiven for failing to linger over soon-to-be-old current events, because they recognize that for the first time in their lives they’re in the grip of history. They’re anxious, even terrified, about what that may mean for their daily lives and dreams and—really the same question—for their children’s lives and dreams.” more…

The Great Fakeroo Recovery

by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

“There is something affected, something not believable, something agitpropish, about all the cheers for the glorious economic recovery we are experiencing. Some of its biggest boosters don’t even quite believe it.” more…

The Big Lie

by David Hume

“At some point we’re going to come to the end of the line with all this nonsense. We’re a mammoth nation of ~300 million people, can we truly coordinate our disparate values and abilities to realize what we wish to be? Conservatives wonder as to the scalability of the European Union, with the all the kludginess entailed by its common monetary policy. But the late great financial panic makes me wonder if these United States is of appropriate scale either. Ah, but that’s an unpatriotic thought.” more…

The Case for Failure of the U.S.

by Michael S. Rozeff

“A key variable in the success or failure of a nation and government like ours is the production of wealth. We the People produce this wealth. When our government selects strategies that impair the production of wealth and that destroy wealth, it causes failure.

“Let’s look at six major government strategies that are causing major failure. There are many more. In each case, there is a pattern of persistence. The government failures do not deter it from continuing the failed strategy. The government enlarges them. The end result of such behavior is the ruination of the country.” more…

In the news…

• Van Jones, the (green jobs, environmental) (czar, guru, advisor, whatever) quits. Here’s some useful commentary on all of that.
• Iran will continue its nuclear program, which is adamantly defended as peaceful.
• Mach 6 test aircraft ready for trial.
• Ever wonder what the DHS knows about you? For example it knows, the IP address of the computer you last made any travel arrangements from.
• China to issue bonds to offshore investors.
• Obama’s speech to the school children (full text).
• Obama’s address to Congress (full video and text).
• HR1207 (Audit the Fed) is going to have a hearing.
• Chris Dodd is vulnerable, which is good news for Peter Schiff.
• NFL regular season starts this week. Pittsburgh beat Tennessee 13-10 in the Thursday opener.
• CEOs of public companies have been selling.
• Wall Street is looking to bundle life insurance like it did mortgages.

Videos

• Burglary of an Apple store pulled off in 31 seconds. Action starts at about 0:55.
• Judge Napalitano on the President’s czars.

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,605.41 (+164.14/1.74%)
S&P 500 – 1,042.73 (+26.33/2.59%)
VIX – 24.15 (-1.11/-4.39%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,238.133 (+160.991/5.23%)
BSE 500 (India) – 6,206.13 (+161.11/2.67%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,175.15 (+89.57/8.25%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 58,366.379 (+1,714.098/3.03%)
RICI – 2,886.53 (+25.83/0.90%)
Gold/oz – 1,006.40 (+9.70/0.97%)
Silver/oz – 16.70 (+0.415/2.55%)
Copper/lb – 284.65 (-2.00/-0.70%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 67.69 (+0.87/1.30%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 467.25 (-4.50/-0.95%)
Corn/bu – 319.75 (+13.50/4.41%)
EUR-USD – 1.4571 (+0.0275/1.92%)
USD-JPY – 90.71 (-2.30/-2.47%)
USD-BRL – 1.8306 (-0.0136/-0.74%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.13 (UNCHG)
2 Year Treasury – 0.90 (-0.03/-3.23%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.35 (-0.09/-2.62%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.18 (-0.09/-2.11%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,795,045,980,436.59 (+7,983,773,723.10/0.07%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 2,468.00 (+53.00/2.19%)

Lots of studying to do this weekend. I’m going to be super busy over the next few months. Hopefully I’ll be able to write an article per month or so. Otherwise this section is going to be pretty thin.

I’ll be reading about 100 pages of Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop tonight. Tomorrow it’s least squares linear regression. Machine learning is going to be fun!

One quick thought before I depart. We all seem to accept the fact we live in a society where the majority rules. And yet it would fly in the face of all of our sensibilities to think that if 51% of the people said to the other 49%, “we voted on it, and the people have decided to kill you all.” That’s absurd, right? Of course it is. Yet we don’t blink at the statement, “we voted on it, and the people have decided to take your money to do X.” Murder by majority is abhorrent. Theft by majority, eh not so much. Why not?

Alright, that’s all for now. Football starts this weekend! Go Broncos!!!

Week in review

Quote of the week

“Gold is nature’s money. It is better than manmade money. Because, with gold, what you have is what you’ve got. They can’t artificially depreciate it or easily increase the quantity of it. That’s why the feds don’t like it. It won’t support their cause du jour – whether it is a war, a bailout, stimulus, health care, or whatever. Gold doesn’t cooperate with the financial engineers. That’s why it’s a good thing to hold when you think the financial engineers are making a mistake.” – Bill Bonner

“[T]he Nixon era was a time in which leading figures in both parties were capable of speaking rationally about policy, and in which policy decisions weren’t as warped by corporate cash as they are now. America is a better country in many ways than it was 35 years ago, but our political system’s ability to deal with real problems has been degraded to such an extent that I sometimes wonder whether the country is still governable.” – Paul Krugman

Decentralization for Freedom

by Dr. Donald W. Livingston, GeorgiaFirst.org

“For the first time in 144 years State interposition (Madison) and State nullification and secession (Jefferson) have entered public discourse as remedies to usurpations by the central government of rights reserved to the sovereign people of the States by the Constitution. Since Americans are not in the habit of exercising these policy options, it is worthwhile to ask just what State legislators and governors can do to protect their citizens from usurpations by the central government.” more…

Are free market prices and government rationing the same thing?

by Jim Babka

“If you tell someone that government-controlled healthcare will lead to rationing, they may respond by saying, ‘Healthcare is already rationed, by prices. If you can’t afford a treatment, you can’t get it.’ This seems like a powerful argument, but it isn’t. Here’s why…“

The Fed on the Defensive

by Gary North

“Always in the past, the Federal Reserve has remained free from serious criticism. The media are obedient lap dogs. So are the academic economists. The textbooks never point out that the FED is the enforcing arm of a huge cartel. The professors refrain from applying to the FED their analyses in their chapters on cartels.

“Today, for the first time, there is a growing audience of intelligent people who are being exposed to the truth about the FED. This has taken place outside Establishment channels, which includes the largest talk radio shows.” more… [You can buy Ron Paul's book End the Fed, here.]

The Case against Literary (and Software) Patents

by Timothy B. Lee

“The high overhead of the patent system demands that it be limited to relatively concentrated and capital-intensive industries in which most participants have the means to comply with the requirements of patent law. Patents on English writing would not meet this requirement. Neither do patents on software.” more…

In the news…

• Comics.
• Senate Bill 773 would give the President emergency control over the Internet.
• Utah texting while driving law has penalties as harsh as for druken driving.
• Disney to acquire Marvel.
• The toy “safety” law passed last year (supported by Mattel) hurts small toy manufacturers and surprisingly (not) helps Mattel, who will now be testing its own toys.
• A report in The Hill about the Rand Paul and Peter Schiff Senate campaigns.
• Obama will address students of government schools about education. Teacher’s encouraged to ask children “how President will inspire them” prior to him giving the speech. If you click on the link the lesson plans are linked as PDFs to that page, which is from the department of education. Unfortunately the content of the letter the link points to and the lesson plans keep changing…  Here’s some commentary on the subject.
• Sentenced to death on the British National Healthcare System.
• The Feds are will “have to” hire 270,000 people over the next three years.
• It’s your patriotic duty to get a flu shot.
• Japan to build space based solar power plant.
• BP discovers huge oil field in Gulf of Mexico.
• Barney Frank is said to “back a Fed audit“, but what he backs is a watered down version of HR1207.

Videos

• Michael Jackson – They Don’t Really Care About Us. A cool video, and a pretty good song too.

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,441.27 (-102.93/-1.08%)
S&P 500 – 1,016.40 (-12.53/-1.22%)
VIX – 25.26 (+0.50/2.02%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,077.142 (+30.361/1.00%)
BSE 500 (India) – 6,045.02 (-49.65/-0.81%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,085.58 (-25.75/-2.32%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 56,652.281 (-1,048.289/-1.82%)
RICI – 2,860.70 (-126.10/-4.22%)
Gold/oz – 996.70 (+37.90/3.95%)
Silver/oz – 16.285 (+1.47/9.92%)
Copper/lb – 286.65 (-8.40/-2.85%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 66.82 (-5.97/-8.20%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 471.75 (-23.50/-4.75%)
Corn/bu – 306.25 (-22.75/-6.91%)
EUR-USD – 1.4296 (-0.0007/-0.05%)
USD-JPY – 93.01 (-0.592/-0.63%)
USD-BRL – 1.8442 (-0.037/-1.97%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.13 (-0.01/-7.14%)
2 Year Treasury – 0.93 (-0.09/-8.82%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.44 (-0.01/-0.29%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.27 (+0.07/1.67%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,787,062,206,713.50 (+61,584,370,622.70/0.53%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 2,415.00 (-6.00/-0.25%)

It’s been busy this week. Classes are getting back in gear. Having a baby is hard work… Work has been busy. We’re trying to get our software released. Lots to do. Little time. I also want to get some meaningful writing done.

For now check out my store on Zazzle. Hopefully I should have some more t-shirt, sticker designs soon. I have two right now. I will have my own Boondoggle shirt soon. You know you want one… :)

Anyway, I’m tired and the liberty breakfast is tomorrow at 8AM in Saline at the City Limits Diner. All are welcome.

Football starts soon… can’t you smell it?

Have a great weekend.

Week in review

Quote of the week

“Politicians constantly cause problems, blame the problems they create on the free market, use the problems they create to grab more power and money that they use to reward special interests, and then go on to create even bigger problems, repeating the same mistakes.” – Jim Babka, DownsizeDC.org

The Welfare State and the Promise of Protection

by Robert Higgs

“In the 20th century, especially during the past seventy years, Americans have placed their faith in government — increasingly the federal government. Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the presidency in 1933, voluntary relief has taken a back seat to government assistance. Eventually, hardly any source of distress remained unattended by a government program. Old age, unemployment, illness, poverty, physical disability, loss of spousal support, childrearing need, workplace injury, consumer misfortune, foolish investment, borrowing blunder, traffic accident, environmental hazard, and loss from flood, fire, or hurricane all became subject to government succor.” more…

The Flaw of Many of the Arguments Against Nationalized Health Care

by Rob Sandwell

“Let’s take away the word ‘health care’ and replace it with the word ‘pizza.’ “What if your government declared that everyone had a right to a pizza, and that those who could not afford a pizza would have their pizza paid for by those who could. Let’s say that further, the government set the cost on pizza so that private pizza providers couldn’t make unfair profits off of the sale of pizza, which is after all every man’s right. Let’s also add that the government set a limit on the amount of pizza that each man can have at any one time, so that we can make sure that there is enough pizza for everyone.” more…

Bernanke to Stay Put

by Bill Bonner

“Friedman’s work itself was flawed in the same way. The general principle was correct – that the government that governs the markets least governs best. But when he got into the mechanics of ‘monetarism,’ he got lost. He believed that if the Fed kept its eye on the money supply; the free market would take care of everything else. But the free market didn’t take of everything, at least not as people hoped. Economist Murray Rothbard explained why in 1971. You cannot expect the free market to function perfectly if you leave in the hands of the government the power to control money. Either markets are free or they aren’t, was Rothbard’s point. If they’re not free, you can’t blame freedom when they fail.” more…

Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess

by Gary Wolf

“Besides offering nearly all of its features for free, it scorns advertising, refuses investment, ignores design, and does not innovate. Ordinarily, a company that showed such complete disdain for the normal rules of business would be vulnerable to competition, but craigslist has no serious rivals. The glory of the site is its size and its price. But seen from another angle, craigslist is one of the strangest monopolies in history, where customers are locked in by fees set at zero and where the ambiance of neglect is not a way to extract more profit but the expression of a worldview.” more…

Teddy’s Torment

by Guy Smith

“Teddy’s politics and positions have largely been an affront to those who lust for liberty. The media made great hay today of his support for 1960’s era civil rights legislation, though any decent human being would have as well. No, all Ted’s other legislation was designed to rob the average American of his wealth (Teddy’s money is sheltered in offshore trusts) restrict rights (Teddy was a slave to the gun control industry) and limit free choice in many fields (like where to purchase one’s health insurance).” more…

In the news…

• Comics.
• The Live Free or Die Rally was last weekend in New Hampshire.
• What do Facebook quizzes know about you?
• Organ regeneration, which has been accomplished for a tooth in a mouse, could be a reality in humans one day.
• DIY tobacco growing on the rise.
• National debt estimated to rise $9 trillion over next decade.
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will see a tough 2010 election that may send him the way of Tom Daschle.
• Foreclosures haunt the suburbran “prime” market.
• The plan for mass vacination against H1N1 (swine flue) is coming together.
• Only one crime was solved by each 1,000 CCTV cameras in London last year.
• Court orders The Fed to disclose the recepients of emergency loan funds.
• First United States gaming, texting addiction center opens its doors.
• DOJ to investigate CIA.
• Being overweight correlated to brain mass loss in the elderly.
• Ben Bernanke has fallen victim to identity theft.
• E-Health system to help combat swine flu outbreak through massive information sharing.
• Depression linked with analytical thought, suggests that best therapies could be “thinking through” your problems.
• Boeing Dreamliner (787) to fly in 2009. First delivery expected Q4 2010.

Videos

• Ted Nugent on being free, courtesy of the Austin PBS.
• The Government Can – a song and video to the tune of Candy Man. Need a laugh? Watch this!

My two cents (on health insurance and such)

Of Third Party Payer Systems

“By the time I turned 16 years old I had learned what is still probably one of the most important lessons of my life – the middle man always gets his cut. He might increase the price, he might dilute the quality, or he might lessen the quantity, but make no mistake he gets his. And that’s okay, he’s providing a service, connecting the person with the demand to the person with the supply. It’s a vital role, but it’s best to cut him out if possible.” more…

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,544.20 (+38.24/0.40%)
S&P 500 – 1,028.93 (+2.80/0.27%)
VIX – 24.76 (-0.25/-1.00%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,046.781 (-156.843/-4.90%)
BSE 500 (India) – 6,094.67 (+272.15/4.67%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,111.33 (+33.68/3.13%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 57,700.57 (-28.02/-0.05%)
RICI – 2,986.80 (+1.10/0.04%)
Gold/oz – 958.80 (+4.10/0.43%)
Silver/oz – 14.815 (+0.616/4.34%)
Copper/lb – 295.05 (+5.65/1.95%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 72.79 (-1.40/-1.89%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 495.25 (+8.00/1.64%)
Corn/bu – 329.00 (+2.75/0.84%)
EUR-USD – 1.4303 (-0.0023/-0.16%)
USD-JPY – 93.602 (-0.78/-0.83%)
USD-BRL – 1.8812 (+0.0512/2.80%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.14 (-0.02/-12.50%)
2 Year Treasury – 1.02 (-0.07/-6.42%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.45 (-0.11/-3.09%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.20 (-0.17/-3.89%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,725,477,836,090.80 (+4,649,280,710.60/0.04%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 2,421.00 (-47.00/-1.90%)

I wrote a “feature” today. Yay!

We’ve been growing basil this summer. Lots of it. I made pesto last night. Yummy stuff. The previous link is to the recipe.

Baby Erin is changing. She’s so cute. We took her to the store today. That was an adventure. There’s a lot of overhead in taking a baby around with you. That probably calls for leaving the house less often.

Please consider joining DownsizeDC. It’s free and being a member will give you a steady stream of information and tools related to fighting big government. I think their approach makes a lot of sense.

Wonder when the suckers rally is going to be end…

So it’s late and I’m getting a little tired. It was chilly today 62 degrees. Fall is almost upon us. Soak up the warm weekends while you can!

The Welfare State and the Promise of ProtectionThe Welfare State and the Promise of Protectionby Robert Higgs”In the 20th century, especially during the past seventy years, Americans have placed their faith in government — increasingly the federal government. Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the presidency in 1933, voluntary relief has taken a back seat to government assistance. Eventually, hardly any source of distress remained unattended by a government program. Old age, unemployment, illness, poverty, physical disability, loss of spousal support, childrearing need, workplace injury, consumer misfortune, foolish investment, borrowing blunder, traffic accident, environmental hazard, and loss from flood, fire, or hurricane all became subject to government succor.” more…

Of Third Party Payer Systems

By the time I turned 16 years old I had learned what is still probably one of the most important lessons of my life – the middle man always gets his cut. He might increase the price, he might dilute the quality, or he might lessen the quantity, but make no mistake he gets his. And that’s okay, he’s providing a service, connecting the person with the demand to the person with the supply. It’s a vital role, but it’s best to cut him out if possible.

Since my wife become pregnant about 9 or so months ago and my daughter was born less than two weeks ago I have been in more doctor’s offices and more hospitals than I have in my entire 32 year life up to that point. My experiences have been mostly good. Care is adequate, although seeing the same doctor in a large clinic from appointment to appointment seems a near impossibility. And they are always late, which is really frustrating. When I make an appointment with someone I keep it. I expect the same. But overall the care we have received is good.

Thing is we were walking out of the pediatrician’s office a few days ago and I was looking at the slip of paper the nurse gave us to check out with. It said that we had racked up $377 worth of charges. And that didn’t even include the current appointment. Wow! They saw my daughter in the hospital, a basic checkup that took less than 30 minutes. Then we came in to their office 2 days later. They weighed her, measured her, and talked with us. Then we came back about a week later and they did it all again. Only at the hospital did we see an MD, the other two times we saw a Nurse Practitioner. We were in the presence of a professional for a combined total of, dare I say, 1.5 hour tops. All for the low low price of $377.

But that’s okay the insurance company is going to get it.

Well I suppose that ’s okay, but it occurs to me, this is all routine stuff. All newborns have these types of appointments. What are we insuring against?

Insurance is a tool to pool risk. For example, if 2 random individuals out of 100 are going to suffer some fate then each of the 100 can contribute a small  amount of money (in proportion to how much each would need to have if he were one of the 2 unlucky ones) to a pool to ensure that the 2 people who will experience the insurable event will be taken care of when said event occurs. This is insurance. It’s spreads risk. It allows us to account for random events.

Newborn checkups are not random events. Pretty much all newborns have them. All newborns should… (No, we didn’t have the Hepatitis-B vaccine for those who are wondering. The CDC has some wonderfully scary propaganda with respect to that one, but that’s another story for another day. We’ll be getting many of the other vaccines.) In any case, all of this stuff is predictable. Insurance just doesn’t make sense. And yet insurance companies cover these things. Why?

If something has a near 100% chance of happening and I pay a third party to “insure” me against its happening, am I not just cutting a middle man into the action? I pay the insurance company, I go to the doctor, the insurance company pays the doctor. Well it’s not that simple. The doctor has billing agents to deal with the insurance companies, and the insurance companies have droves of clerks, managers, executives, and such. All of these people must be paid. And of course, the insurance company itself should make a profit for its shareholders. I do not begrudge them that, but that’s one fat ass middle man.

So wouldn’t it be better if I just paid the doctor cash myself? If all of us did? At least for routine things?

But why would I? My insurance covers it and I pay for my insurance. Then there’s the fact that the insurance is often subsidized or discounted through an employer, and there’s tax benefits to getting it through an employer and they are required by law to provide plans that cover certain things, like newborn visits.

So we pay for the insurance and we use it. I haven’t done any rigorous calculation about what it would take to drop the current insurance, buy a true insurance policy, pay the extra taxes on the money previously used to buy the employer provided insurance, and then find a doctor that was willing to take cash. Of course said doctor would have to be charging a lot less than $150+ per visit. I haven’t figured all of that out. Whatever, given the current system, I am not so sure that it would be cheaper. If my time is worth anything it is especially questionable.

The insurance companies (HMOs) got a hell of a scam going. Granted they still insure in the traditional sense, but they take money on policies and pay for routine things and make (probably a lot of) money doing it. They are just leeches in this process. We don’t need them for this type of stuff. Cutting them out of routine care has the potential to save a boat load of money.

But the deck is stacked against us. Regulations prevent employer’s from offering stripped down policies (it’s a funny thing insurance companies support these regulations), doctors are not in the habit of providing cash discounts (if you don’t use the middle man you shouldn’t have to pay for the middle man), or taking cash at all really. And of course if I buy health insurance on my own I have to pay taxes on the money used to buy it, while on the other hand if I buy it through my employer I get to buy it tax free. That’s a big incentive to buy it through my employer…

So the newborn visits are covered. In this rigged game I have no real incentive to change my behavior. That is, given the rules of the game I’m probably making the best decision possible.

If only we could change the rules to allow for a little more liberty, a little more personal responsibility.  As it it now we have been corralled into a horribly inefficient situation.

But it could be worse, the wonderfully craptacular federal government could be the third party payer.

Week in review

Quote of the week

“I urge you to remove the word ‘consumer’ from your lexicon, it’s degrading. It suggests we have no duty to our fellow man.” – James Howard Kunstler

Introducing the Tenth Amendment

by Andrew Sumereau

“In the era of Obama’s imperial presidency, with ever accumulating and unaccountable Czars, explosive debt, bank bailouts, corporate takeovers, Congressional redistricting, tax increases, a lack of any perceptible restraint on the judiciary, the sad reality is dawning on many if not finally on most that we live in a post-constitutional nation. The volume and emotion of the protests comes both from a sincere anger and panic but also from the frustration of an inarticulate and uninformed citizenry that feels what it doesn’t know. People may cry ‘liberty!’ and ‘hands off’ but don’t have the education and intellectual ammunition to make a solid case.” more…

The Republic Becomes the Empire

by Garet Garrett

“We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. If you ask when, the answer is that you cannot make a single stroke between day and night. The precise moment does not matter. There was no painted sign to say, ‘You now are entering Imperium.’ Yet it was a very old road and the voice of history was saying: ‘Whether you know it or not, the act of crossing may be irreversible.’ And now, not far ahead, is a sign that reads: ‘No U Turns.’ more…

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare

by John Mackey

“While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone.” more…

When Out of Hope, Feign Change

by Michael F. Cannon

“The Obama administration’s offer to drop a Medicare-like health insurance option for Americans under age 65 is neither a surprise nor a comfort, because it does nothing to change the administration’s dangerous plan for health reform. Rather, it is a tactic designed to change the debate – one that fits nicely within the administration’s broader strategy of deception.” more… [Take action with DownsizeDC.org here.]

Congress on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

by Rosslyn Smith

“Watching our political class fumble with the hot potato of ObamaCare has proven to make for a highly entertaining August. We assume that elected officials must have considerable people skills. Yet many Democrats have been ham handed in the extreme when faced with voters who want to be heard on one hand and party leaders who will not tolerate dissent on the other. … The lengths to which some Congressmen and Senators have gone to avoid voters who simply want to be heard is amusing and informative.” more…

Is the FDIC Bankrupt?

by Bob Irish

“How can you insure the base of deposits, when banks are allowed to loan out $10 for every $1 on deposit? You can’t. It’s mathematically impossible. The same way it would be impossible for every depositor to get their money back if they all showed up at the bank on the same day. When swindlers and crooks pull a scam like this we call it a ‘pyramid scheme’. When the banks do it, it’s called ‘fractional reserve banking.’ When the government does it, it’s called ‘Social Security.’” more…

In the news…

• Comics.
• Obama Joker poster artist interviewed.
• Local government viewed more favorably than federal.
• DNA evidence can be fabricated.
• Backlash grows on healthcare “reform”.
• TALF (term asset-backed securities loan facility/troubled asset loan facility) to be extended.
• Poll indicates that Rand Paul is competitive in the Kentucky Senate race.
• “Liberals” boycott Whole Foods because of CEO’s op-ed. The op-ed is linked above.
• First Lady, Michelle Obama, “requires” 26 servants.
• The Arizona legislature passed a bill that will stop “enhanced drivers licenses” in the state. This is yet another rejection of the REAL ID Act.
• On a similar note, REAL ID is being reincarnated as PASS ID.
• Man jailed for three months on breath mint posession.
• Weekly Alibi interviews Adam Kokesh, Republican candidate for Congress (NM-3).
• The ostensibly successful “cash for clunkers” program is coming to an end. Read about the Broken Window Fallacy here.
• Meanwhile, auto dealers are having trouble getting paid for those destroyed “clunkers”.
• Public opinion is turning against the Afghan War.
• Existing home sales are up 7.2% in July.
• 49% say that workers should be able to opt-out of Social Security.
• Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession.

Videos

• If you’re not having fun advocating for liberty you’re doing it wrong.
• Everything the government runs is bankrupt.
• Peter Schiff on Warren Buffet’s idiocy, Bill Gross, and our longer term prospects if the current course is maintained.

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,505.96 (+184.56/1.98%)
S&P 500 – 1,026.13 (+22.04/2.20%)
VIX – 25.01 (+0.74/3.05%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,203.624 (-140.838/-4.21%)
BSE 500 (India) – 5,822.52 (-65.24/-1.11%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,077.65 (+4.91/0.46%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 57,728.59 (+1,090.59/1.93%)
RICI – 2,985.70 (+24.68/0.83%)
Gold/oz – 954.70 (+6.00/0.63%)
Silver/oz – 14.199 (-0.523/-3.55%)
Copper/lb – 289.40 (+4.30/1.51%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 74.19 (+2.75/3.85%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 487.25 (-22.25/-4.37%)
Corn/bu – 326.25 (-1.50/-0.46%)
EUR-USD – 1.4326 (+0.0123/0.87%)
USD-JPY – 94.382 (-0.558/-0.59%)
USD-BRL – 1.83 (-0.0184/-1.00%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.16 (-0.01/-5.88%)
2 Year Treasury – 1.09 (+0.04/3.81%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.56 (-0.01/-0.28%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.37 (-0.06/-1.35%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,720,828,555,380.19 (+57,997,673,500.10/0.50%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 2,468.00 (-284.00/-10.32%)

Wow what a week. My baby daughter is here! Times they are a changing…

When I was 18 I swore I’d never have kids. I suppose this is not the first time I’ve proven myself wrong though. I always thought “who’d want to bring a kid into this insane world?” But in retrospect, maybe just maybe, the kids we raise can foster some much needed sanity. No doubt they’re going to be tough to do it though. Toughness, now that’s something that’s lacking in our society…

But that’s for another day. I have finished yet another book… The seventh book in the Wheel of Time, The Crown of Swords. The eighth book awaits. Not sure if I want to start it. It’s staring at me from under the end table… Classes start again in about two weeks. But before that my mom is coming to visit! And then my dad two weeks later. They want to meet their new grandaughter. The call of the book is strong… So strong…

I’m rambling. Sorry. I suppose that’s what happens when you have two beers before putting the finishing touches on the newsletter.

So maybe I’ll just wrap it up with a joke that someone sent me:

Barack Obama was visiting a primary school and he visited one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked the president if he would like to lead the discussion on the word ‘tragedy.’ So our illustrious president asked the class for an example of a ‘tragedy.’

One little boy stood up and offered: ‘If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy.’

‘No,’ said Obama, ‘that would be an accident.’

A little girl raised her hand: ‘If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.

I’m afraid not,’ explained Obama. ‘That’s what we would call great loss.’

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Obama searched the room. ‘Isn’t there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?’

Finally at the back of the room, Little Johnny raised his hand. In a quiet voice he said: ‘If the plane carrying you and Mrs. Obama was struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy.’

‘Fantastic!’ exclaimed Obama. ‘That’s right , and can you tell me why that would be tragedy?’

‘Well,’ says the boy, ‘It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss . . . and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either

Have a great weekend!

Week in review

Quote of the week

“[H]ere is the question that socialists have never been able to answer: if the goal is to get government to operate like a private service, what is the value added by having it provided by the government in the first place? The only reason for a government service is precisely to provide financial support for an operation that is otherwise unsustainable, or else there would be no point in the government’s involvement at all.” – Lew Rockwell

The Debt Crisis Cannot Be Solved with More Debt

by David Saied

“The only way to solve a debt crisis — a path demonstrated by other countries that have survived through similar crises — is to drastically reduce the total levels of debt. Individuals, businesses, and the government must all tighten their belts, reduce expenditures, and live well within their means. How can a monetary policy that promotes more credit and a fiscal policy that creates more debt solve the debt crisis? The answer is clear: it cannot.” more…

Have you noticed that there’s a rebellion underway?

by DownsizeDC

“We’ve long felt that public hatred of insurance companies is the main source of support for increased government involvement in health care. But now people seem to be realizing that the real reason to hate the insurance companies is because of… The United States of Corporate Welfare.” more…

Many Gun Owners, the State and Media Agree; 2a Is No Longer Relevant

by Michael Gaddy

“When I decided to write this article, I did not contact the government, submit to a background check, submit fingerprints, take a government endorsed writing class and pay for permission. What is the difference in the exercise of my inalienable right to free speech and my inalienable right to keep and bear arms? The difference is: the state currently fears my ability to resist tyranny with a firearm more than with words, but as we can see from the reaction of the government and its media lackeys to the spoken objections to the tyranny of socialized medicine, that is about to change.” more…

Vandal Economics

by Bill Bonner

“A ‘good’ is a good only insofar as it is good to the person who wants it. The public servant – as able and self-less as he may be – has to guess. History and theory tell us what happens; he usually guesses wrong. Only the individual knows what he wants and how to get it. He compares one good against others – using prices to guide him to where he gets the most good for his money. But when the government steps in with its subsidies, it effectively pisses in the stream of price information. Now, the consumer, with no clean signal to guide him, makes mistakes. He may be lured to buy a new car. The central planners may be pleased. They see the effect they desired – more auto sales. But what don’t they see?” more…

The 2nd American Revolution

by Gerald Celente

“The natives are restless. The third shot of the ‘Second American Revolution’ has been fired. History is being made. But just as with the first two shots, the third shot is not being heard. America is seething. Not since the Civil War has anything like this happened. But the protests are either being intentionally downplayed or ignorantly misinterpreted.” more…

How Is America Going To End? – The Breakup Scenario

by Josh Levin

“Predictions of modern America’s collapse usually say more about the speaker than about the country’s condition. Igor Panarin, the Russian political scientist who believes the United States will break into six pieces in 2010, seems to be extrapolating from what happened to the Soviet Union. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who paid lip service to secession at a tax-day rally earlier this year, was less predicting America’s downfall than feeding chum to a riled-up, ‘Secede!’ -chanting crowd. ‘[I]f Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people,’ Perry said, ‘you know, who knows what might come out of that.’ more… This is from a series of articles, the first of which is here.

In the news…

• Comics.
• The NFL preseason is rolling.
• More than $2 billion goes into electric car grants, with the mega-corporations and government owned enterprises getting the lion’s share of the money.
• Artificial bones made of wood.
• Emerging from banruptcy, Government Motors leaves its environmental liabilities with the old company.
• Tim Geithner has asked the Congress to increase the federal debt limit beyond the current $12.1 trillion within the next two months.
• Army spies on domestic anti-war activists.
• A little bit on the Kentucky Senate Race, the one in which Rand Paul is running.
• Banks to collect $38.5 billion in overdraft fees.
• Cool cyborg legs.
• Gene mutation tied to requiring less sleep discovered.
• Use of local currencies is on the rise.
• Newly elected Democrats may tread lightly on heathlcare. Let’s keep giving them hell.
• Cash for clunkers could suffer from unintended consequences.

Videos

• Representative Michele Bachmann on our Thugocracy especially as it relates to the nationalization of General Motors.
• Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start the Fire – with lots of pictures. A whirlwind tour of the second half of the 20th century.

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,321.40 (-48.67/-0.52%)
S&P 500 – 1,004.09 (-6.39/-0.63%)
VIX – 24.27 (-0.49/-1.98%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,344.462 (-210.633/-5.92%)
BSE 500 (India) – 5,887.76 (+128.60/2.23%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1072.74 (-42.67/-3.83%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 56,638.00 (+308.488/0.55%)
RICI – 2961.02 (-76.63/-2.52%)
Gold/oz – 948.70 (-10.80/-1.13%)
Silver/oz – 14.722 (+0.054/0.37%)
Copper/lb – 285.10 (+6.55/2.35%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 71.44 (-2.15/-2.92%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 509.50 (-7.25/-1.40%)
Corn/bu – 327.75 (+1.25/0.38%)
EUR-USD – 1.4203 (+0.002/0.14%)
USD-JPY – 94.94 (-2.63/-2.70%)
USD-BRL – 1.8484 (+0.028/1.54%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.17 (UNCHG)
2 Year Treasury – 1.05 (-0.25/-19.23%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.57 (-0.28/-7.27%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.43 (-0.17/-3.70%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,662,830,881,880.09 (+2,688,427,676.10/0.02%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 2,752.00 (-20.00/-0.72%)

Don’t have too much time this week, but I want to say one thing. The whole concept of “hate speech” and “hate crimes” really chaps my hide. First, despite how offensive or ignorant a person’s words are, they have a right to those words. To say them without threat of legal action, but with the full realization that there may be social consequences. Like people not wanting to associate with you because you’re an idiot, for example.

As for the “hate crime” thing. If a person does a crime the punishment should not depend upon their motive. The crime is the crime. That’s it. If you punish someone for what they believe you are walking off the edge of a cliff into an abyss. This goofy crap has to stop. Seriously. Probably anyone reading this agrees with me, but I’d like to hear some sane arguments in favor of “hate crime/speech” legislation. Anyone want to play devil’s advocate?

Okay that’s it. I’ve got nothing else this week, but I am working on something for next week! Maybe I’ll have time to finish. Have a great weekend.

A Teachable Moment at the Dingell Romulus Town Hall Meeting

by William Bigler

I am a long-time libertarian but a fledgling protestor. I attended my very first town hall meeting Thursday night in Romulus. Representative Dingell was there to address us about the Health Care Bill. To his credit, he withstood our protests and answered a few pertinent questions—possibly from our audience. Before he spoke, there was a little lady who spoke in favor of the bill. During her remarks, she said, “I challenge any of you to look me in the eye and tell me I don’t have a right to health care!”

The room that was more than half-filled with angry, rebellious anti-HC protestors, who had been booing, guffawing, and yelling out rebuffs aplenty to pro-HC crowd members and speakers alike, were notably silent. Nobody took her up on her challenge. She was either born a little person and/or she had suffered some disfiguring disability and complained that she couldn’t get insurance due to pre-existing conditions. I don’t know what silenced us. I don’t know if we felt that it would be picking on the disabled or politically incorrect to challenge a little person. Some might have thought she was correct in her assertion. All I know is that she cowed us all including me.

Now, I am a novice at all of this. I have never been to a town hall meeting before. I tend to be a little shy around strangers and in new situations. This probably comes as a shock to Marianne and Cornelia, two of our Ann Arbor Patriots, whom I had just met a few minutes before. I bet they had me pegged as an outgoing, effusive guy which I was when I met them, but I felt connected to them because we had the AAP’s association so I felt as if I already knew them. In any event, I didn’t react as I wish I would have to the lady’s dare.

Here’s what I wish I would have done. When the lady issued her challenge, I wish I would have stood up, approached her, looked her in the eye, and said: “Here I am, Dear, eye to eye. You don’t have a right to a solid gold Cadillac, to marry Brad Pitt, or to health care. You do have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have a right to try to obtain a solid gold Cadillac, to try to marry Brad, or to try to get health care. But you don’t have a right to health care because the only way you get that kind of right is at the point of gun. You only get that kind of right by turning to that lady next to you, pointing your gun, and saying, “Give me the money for my health care or I’ll take it from you by force and, if you resist me, I’ll kill you to get it.” Now, I’m sure you would never do that, but that is exactly what you’re advocating that the government do to folks every time you say, “I have a right to health care” because those kind of rights only come at the point of a gun. We owe it to one another to be better than that. We owe each other liberty. We owe it to one another not to initiate force to achieve our ends and our government owes it to us to treat us with the same respect for our liberties that we show to one another.”

So, instead of talking about your right to health care, why don’t we talk about non-coercive ways to make our health care better? Why don’t we talk about ways to get the gov’t laws and regulations out of the way of improving our health system? Why don’t we look for ways that we can free up and expand our options and opportunities for better health. Let’s put away the heavy yoke and the pointed gun of government and see what a free market in health care could do if we ever gave it a chance.”

That’s what I wish I had done and said. I’m hoping I get a chance to redeem myself in the future. Then, maybe, when I get to the pearly gates of that great Galt’s Gulch in the sky, Ayn Rand, John Galt, Murray Rothbard, and Harry Browne will reckon that I have made up for past transgressions and will welcome me in.

Week in review

Quote of the week

“To recap then, more than half the population is opposing massive, unconstitutional government intervention in health care only because profit-making health insurers told us to. And Obama supporters are supposed to rat out their friends and family for opposing this unprecedented Socialist power grab. Witness the Democrats’ version of America.” – The Patriot Post

Why Bernanke Is in Panic Mode

by Gary North

“For the first time since 1914, there is a public debate in Congress over the Federal Reserve’s power. Never before has a majority of the House of Representatives called for what should always have existed: Congressional scrutiny over the FED’s money. Bernanke says that Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve is a bill to audit Federal Reserve policy. Yet the bill says nothing about auditing policy. So, what is he talking about?” more…

Obama and the Continuing War on the Poor

by Paul A. Cleveland

“[I]t seems that people are basically unwilling to face a rather obvious economic truth: In this world there are only a few ways for each of us to obtain the things that we desire. We can produce the things ourselves starting from scratch, produce something valued by others and use that in trade for what we want, take the things from others by force or fraud, or receive them as gifts of charity. Only the first two of these are economic. Theft and charity cannot be universalized, because each can be achieved only by the prior production of others. It is this fact that led H.L. Mencken to note in his day that elections in America were nothing more than advanced auctions on stolen property.” more…

Healthcare Solution: Go Back to Cash

by Charles Hugh Smith

“There is a solution so simple and so radical that it is ‘impossible’ (and of course you’re reading it here): shut down insurance and all government entitlements, and return to the ‘golden era’ of the 1950s when everyone paid cash for healthcare. Here are the costs of childbirth as of 1952 at one of the finest hospitals on the West Coast, The Santa Monica Hospital:” more…

A Want Ad for God

by Thomas Firey

“[T]he problem with a ’systemic risk monitor:’ Such a monitor would have to know when everyone is wrong — including financial experts and government analysts. And the monitor would need the power to force everyone to act contrary to their beliefs and instead obey the monitor’s judgment — and not demand (successfully) that the monitor be replaced because his judgment is “clearly” flawed.” more…

Happy Days Aren’t Here Again

by Peter Schiff

“The recently passed ‘cash for clunkers’ program (currently on-hold, as it ran out of funding in one week) is a perfect example of how government policy can make the economy worse. By incentivizing Americans to destroy fully paid-for cars so they can go deeper into debt buying brand new ones, the government weakens an already crippled economy. The last thing we want to do is subsidize Americans to go deeper into debt by buying more stuff. Don’t they realize that is precisely the behavior that got us into this mess?” more…

In the news…

• If you can’t argue the merits call your opponent a racist.
• Pelosi calls those angry about the healthcare boondoggle “astroturfers”.
• Government tax receipts are falling. Will the parasites ease up or sink in another set of fangs?
• A new microbe strain can make electricity.
• Iraq will impose restrictions on internet use for its citizens.
• Russian subs patrol off east coast.
• Maintaining Afghan army will require $20 billion. Afghanistan can’t pay.
• New York nurses oppose mandatory immunization.
• About half of US mortgages estimated to be under water by 2011.
• Unemployment has reversed course and now sits at 9.4%. Here’s some analysis.
• Sotomayor is confirmed to SCOTUS.
• Fannie Mae loses $14.8 billion, requests $10.7 billiion from Treasury.
• In case you wanted to snitch on your friends and collegaues for spreading falsehoods about Obamacare, you can do so here.
• Denial of service attack on a Georgian (the country) blogger takes out Twitter, hampers Facebook.

Videos

• Peter Schiff on his Senate run.
• Super fast robot hands dribble balls, throw balls, catch balls, twirl sticks, play baseball. Wow!

My two cents

John Dingell’s Romulus Townhall

“I showed up to the event about 20 mintues early and there was a line forming outside. I was probably about 20 or 30 people or so back. We were informed that the building was full and we were not going to be allowed in. I started talking to the folks around me, most of whom opposed HR3200 (aka the Healthcare Bill). From there we got onto other topics like the corrupt system of central banking that we are saddled with and which is well on its way to enslaving us.” more…

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,370.07 (+198.46/2.16%)
S&P 500 – 1,010.48 (+23.00/2.33%)
VIX – 24.76 (-1.16/-4.48%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,555.095 (-179.527/-4.81%)
BSE 500 (India) – 5,759.16 (-181.22/-3.05%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,115.41 (+62.11/5.90%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 56,329.512 (+1,563.793/2.86%)
RICI – 3,037.65 (+61.61/2.07%)
Gold/oz – 959.50 (+3.70/0.39%)
Silver/oz – 14.668 (+0.728/5.22%)
Copper/lb – 278.55 (+16.20/6.17%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 73.59 (+1.89/2.64%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 516.75 (-11.50/-2.18%)
Corn/bu – 326.50 (-23.00/-6.58%)
EUR-USD – 1.4183 (-0.0074/-0.52%)
USD-JPY – 97.57 (+2.888/3.05%)
USD-BRL – 1.8204 (-0.0447/-2.40%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.17 (-0.01/-5.56%)
2 Year Treasury – 1.30 (+0.19/17.12%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.85 (+0.37/10.63%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.60 (+0.30/6.98%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,660,142,454,204.00 (+78,940,662,921.90/0.68%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 2,772.00 (-578.00/-17.25%)

The Peter Schiff money bomb was today. He’s still about $50k from his goal of $750k for the day, so why not get over to his site and help out a bit?

I wrote a whole thing about my trip to John Dingell’s townhall dog and pony show on Thursday so I’m going to keep this kinda short. Plus it’s late and I want to get back to my book (The Lord of Chaos) and I bought a fifth of crown and its calling me…  So.

I think I’m going shooting tomorrow. That’s exciting. What else? Not much I suppose. Enjoy your weekend and get out to one of those townhalls and meet some people and give your Represenative some well-deserved hell! Be the mob! Heh. And then get involved in a local race and let’s all work on throwing some of these clowns out of office in 2010.

John Dingell Romulus Townhall

I showed up to the event about 20 mintues early and there was a line forming outside. I was probably about 20 or 30 people or so back. We were informed that the building was full and we were not going to be allowed in. I started talking to the folks around me, most of whom opposed HR3200 (aka the Healthcare Bill). From there we got onto other topics like the corrupt system of central banking that we are saddled with and which is well on its way to enslaving us.

Turns out there was a big anti-Fed guy standing right next to me. I hope I convinced him to sign up for the Campaign for Liberty. In any case he did sign up for my newsletter. I got 3 or 4 new subscribers actually.

We talked and time passed and then I looked back and there must have been at least 250 people behind me in line. Probably more. People with signs and flags and other paraphenalia. The anti-HR3200 people probably outnumbered the pro-HR3200 people by 10 to 1. Also remember there were already at least 250 people in the buliding at this time.

And there were flags and placards and signs. There was a picture of Barack Obama with a Hilter mustache that said “I’ve Changed.” Of course the gadsen flag was on proud display. The anti-abortion crowd was out to as HR3200 would provide government funding for abortions, which really is just abhorent. Of course there were some pro-Obama signs, but so very few in comparison.

After a while folks started to get tired and began leaving, but then the Dingell staffers came out and said he would have a second meeting with those who were still waiting outside.

By this time I had been standing around for a while and the conversation around me was petering out, so I went and got my HR1207 (Audit the Fed) petitions and started getting signatures. So very few people refused to sign and I only got about 1/6 or so down the line before the second meeting started. Still I got 60 signatures or thereabouts. If there had been 3 or 4 more of me I could have had over 200 signatures easy. Auditing the Fed is such a braindead obvious thing to do.

One guy was just abosoutely hell bent on thrwarting me though. For instance he says, “you don’t trust the government so how could you trust the Congress to Audit the Fed?” You just can’t argue with these people. What are you supposed to say, “yeah well, I’d rather we break the US into 50 independent republics?” How well is that going to go over? I cajoled him and he agree to sign the petition. But he just wrote Xs where his signature and address were supposed to be. Uggg.

I saw another girl standing in line with a “Healthcare is  Right” badge on, but still of course asked her, “would you like to sign my audit the Fed petition?” She shook her head. She seemed very lonely, standing there all by herself, unhappy, no friends, so trusting of our Imperial Federal Government. I kept moving. Most of those around her were talking about how corrupt and useless Washington is.

So after all of that I never went into the meeting, but from what I heard it was a typical political dog and pony show. Dingell puts all of his apologists and supporters in the front rows with signs, asks people to write down their questions, cherry picks the questions he’s going to answer and then proceeds to answer. I did hear some chanting from outside and apparently there were some disturbances inside, and some ranting by his constiuents, which I full well support.

I’m sick of the political class regardless of political party. They are abjectly corrupt and inept and they all need to be thrown out. Thursday evening was just another reminder of that.

Week in review

Quote of the week

“Health care cannot be a right, because rights cannot come from government. At best, they can be protected by government. The founders understood this, which is why our Bill of Rights is really a list of restrictions on the government in Washington.” – Jonah Goldberg

Bernanke’s Collectivism

by Michael S. Rozeff

“It is entirely reasonable to conclude that discretionary central banking with open market operations and without gold playing an essential constraining role is the cause of greater price instability and price inflation. Central banking with discretionary open market operations and without the constraint of gold is what helps define central banking; that and the fact that its notes are legal tender by law. If open market operations were taken away and if the central bank had to redeem its currency in gold, we would no longer have central banking as we know it now and as we have known it since 1913. For this reason, it is reasonable simply to say that central banking is the cause of greater price instability. To achieve price stability, we need only get rid of central banking. If we do that by stripping it of various powers like open market operations and by making it redeem in gold, all the while retaining the shell institution, we are essentially getting rid of central banking.” more…

Read the bill, congressmen

by The Washington Times

“Mr. Conyers might think it’s an antiquated notion that congressmen actually read legislation, but it is the most fundamental responsibility of elected representatives to know and understand laws and how they will affect the lives of their constituents.” more…

Socialized Healthcare vs. The Laws of Economics

by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

“The government’s initial step in attempting to create a government-run healthcare monopoly has been to propose a law that would eventually drive the private health insurance industry out of existence. Additional taxes and mandated costs are to be imposed on health insurance companies, while a government-run ‘health insurance’ bureaucracy will be created, ostensibly to ‘compete’ with the private companies. The hoped-for end result is one big government monopoly which, like all government monopolies, will operate with all the efficiency of the post office and all the charm and compassion of the IRS.” more…

In the news…

• Comics.
• Texas Governor Rick Perry invokes 10th Amendment in healthcare debate.
• The Feds will take a 34% stake in Citi.
• Elliot Spitzer backs Federal Reserve audit.
• A bit from the NY Times on ruthless defaulters.
• Republicans lead on a generic congressional ballot.
• Peter Schiff for Senate Money Bomb is August 7th.
• Turns out that Maya Soetoro, Barack Obama’s half sister who was born in Indonesia, has a Hawaiian Certification of Live Birth.
• Rasmussen poll reports that 75% of the people support an audit of the Federal Reserve Bank.
• The Congress is considering a bill that would blackmail state governments into passing laws to make texting while driving illegal.
• Listen to police radio online.
• US Government broke the record for weekly debt sales this week.
• Breaking from tradition, Wolfram Alpha, claims ownership of its “computational knowledge engine’s” output. Possible effects on copyright law are discussed here.
• Cash for clunkers is out of money, looking for another $2 billion.
• GDP contraction slows to 1%.
• A 10 page critique of HR3200, aka “The Healthcare Bill”.
• Rasmussen polling data on healthcare.
• The Audit the Fed bill, HR1207 has 281 co-sponsors.  The Senate version, S604 has 20. Please call your Senators and ask for their support!

Videos

• Stephen Colbert – “Enjoy the Police State”.
• Ben Bernanke compilation from 2005-2007. What a buffoon.

And now the numbers…

DOW Jones Industrials – 9,171.61 (+78.37/0.86%)
S&P 500 – 987.48 (+8.22/0.84%)
VIX – 25.92 (+2.83/12.26%)
CSI 300 (China) – 3,734.622 (+67.066/1.83%)
BSE 500 (India) – 5,940.38 (+115.32/1.98%)
MICEX (Russia) – 1,053.30 (+26.35/2.57%)
BOVESPA (Brazil) – 54,765.719 (+308.43/0.57%)
RICI – 2,976.04 (+70.92/2.44%)
Gold/oz – 955.80 (-0.10/-0.01%)
Silver/oz – 13.94 (+0.065/0.47%)
Copper/lb – 262.35 (+10.15/4.02%)
Oil/bbl (Brent) – 71.70 (+1.38/1.96%)
Wheat/bu (CBT) – 528.25 (+12.00/2.32%)
Corn/bu – 349.50 (+22.25/6.80%)
EUR-USD – 1.4257 (+0.0055/0.39%)
USD-JPY – 94.682 (-0.11/-0.12%)
USD-BRL – 1.8651 (-0.0307/-1.62%)
3 Month Treasury – 0.18 (UNCHG)
2 Year Treasury – 1.11 (+0.12/12.12%)
10 Year Treasury – 3.48 (-0.18/-4.92%)
30 Year Treasury – 4.30 (-0.24/-5.29%)
U.S. Public Debt (official) – 11,581,201,791,282.09 (-24,319,288,560.00/-0.21%)
Baltic Dry Index (BDIY:IND) – 3,350.00 (+5.00/0.15%)

Okay, prepare for a disorganized deluge.

First something kinda cool, an image of a painting of many influential people from ages past and present. Granted they are missing a few, for instance Jesus and Thomas Jefferson. In fact not one person from the Revolutionary Era is present.  And George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are. Go figure. Anyway it’s worth a look, and each character has a link to a Wikipedia entry.

Also found out something interesting about Nickels this week. They weigh 5 grams and are composed 75% of copper and 25% of nickel. Yup, a “nickel” is mostly copper because well if it was 100% nickel it would be worth more than a nickel and what government would produce a coin that was worth more than its face value when it could just as easily debase said coin? Exactly… Anyway a nickel has approximately $0.04 of actual metallic value. So you might want to hold onto your nickels. I suspect the metallic content will outpace face value.

That bit about the law where the Feds want to ban texting is bothersome to me. Yeah, texting while your driving is idiotic and municipalities and states should probably pass laws to prohibit it, but the Feds have no Constitutional authority to do this – (10th Amendment and Article I). Unfortunately the precedent already exists (the drinking age is linked to highway funding), which just goes to show that if you give them an inch they take a mile. This is why even “common sense” legislation that is of questionable constitutionality should be opposed outright. Otherwise the lawgivers acquire the habit of not obeying their own charter and end up just a bunch of lawless thugs. They have already insulated themselves from the effects of their pernicious laws, have elevated themselves above the people of this country, and have nearly earned that title – Thug.

Which brings me to the lawless thug from Detroit, John Conyers, whose wife – an esteemed city councilor – was just found to have been taking bribes. Of course John Conyers doesn’t know anything about that. Anyway, Mr. Conyers thinks that reading legislation is for suckers not for congressmen and made a statement to that effect this week. Thousands of pages of laws come out of that body each month. It’s sickening, and another good reason to support Downsize DC’s Read the Bills Act. Another good reason to vote against all incumbents.

Have you noticed how pretty much everything Congress is doing is being done with a bare majority? Even during the Bush years this was the case. And they try to do so much. This just seems a prescription for inculcating resentment and anger, and yet there appear few outlets. Someday somewhere something has to give. Because how can 51% dictate so much to 49%? In all of this regional difference are glaring. I wonder why most of us are willing to put with New Englanders, New Yorkers and Californians.

Finally, don’t you just love the part where Obama says “we inherited this from Bush”. He forgets to tell you that the Democrats controlled Congress from 2006 onward. Oh, wasn’t he part of those majorities. Hmmmm. I wish he would take twice as many vacations as Bush did. Maybe he could buy a ranch in Kenya.

Okay, that’s it. There was some other stuff I wanted to say about the environment and environmentalism (positive stuff), but I’m running short on time and have gone on for a long time now. Plus I do not think I can give it its due in a single paragraph, and to use more than one paragraph would be to destroy my motif, and well I could just never forgive myself for that. So that’s that.

Breakfast in Saline tomorrow at 8 AM at the City Limits Diner. Join us if you can. Otherwise have a great weekend!