Friday, December 30, 2011

Ron Paul worries everyone but Mitt Romney

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ron-paul-worries-everyone-but-romney/2011/12/29/gIQAe0FwOP_story.html

Casting a Paul over GOP

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1392000&srvc=rss

Gary Johnson Urges Supporters To Vote For Ron Paul In Primaries

http://www.ology.com/politics/gary-johnson-urges-supporters-vote-ron-paul-primaries/12292011

Ron Paul learns what happens to candidates who embrace religious extremists - latimes.com

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/12/ron-paul-learns-what-happens-candidates-embrace-religious-extremists.html

Kelly Clarkson endorses Ron Paul; incurs wrath from Twitter - latimes.com

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/12/kelly-clarkson-endorses-ron-paul-incurs-wrath-from-twitter.html

Ron Paul and Israel: Respect, Commerce and Honest Friendship | Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/2011/12/29/ron-paul-and-israel-respect-commerce-and-honest-friendship/

The roar of Ron Paul: Five of his unorthodox views on the economy - Federal budget deficits - CSMonitor.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/2011/0426/The-roar-of-Ron-Paul-Five-of-his-unorthodox-views-on-the-economy/Federal-budget-deficits

'Racist newsletter' timeline: What Ron Paul has said - CSMonitor.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1229/Racist-newsletter-timeline-What-Ron-Paul-has-said

'Racist newsletter' timeline: What Ron Paul has said - CSMonitor.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1229/Racist-newsletter-timeline-What-Ron-Paul-has-said

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Ten Years to Greece

"Things are OK in the same sense that a house that is massively
overmortgaged can still be a nice-looking house. ... But there comes a
point when the bills are due, and we've reached that point."

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47978

Why Washington Is Shocked, Shocked By Newt Gingrich's Rise Over Mitt Romney

The idea of reversing federal growth is fine to keep on the wish list,
but those who advocate it seriously are seen as rubes—either new
arrivals in Washington who just fell off a turnip truck or
unsophisticated congressmen from 'flyover country.' To be a true
Beltway Republican is to have accepted the assumption that the scope
of government cannot be radically altered. And they think it is
politically foolish to try.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/09/why-washington-is-shocked-shocked-by-newt-gingrichs-rise-over-mitt-romney/#ixzz1g5V7yMb5

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Herman Cain Suspends His Presidential Campaign

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/us/politics/herman-cain-suspends-his-presidential-campaign.html

... I am deeply disappointed. Anyone can steer a ship when the seas
are calm. You can measure a man by how he handles adversity, and his
determination to not give up.

The best candidate remaining by far, to deal with the excesses of
government, is Ron Paul, but he is very unlikely to win. He only has
about 2% support.

That leaves us with a bunch of other candidates with baggage either
personally or politically. I really felt that Cain was the right
choice. Although he was far from perfect, his heart was in the right
place. He was willing to stand up for what he believed in, and not
take fuzzy positions like Romney or Gingrich.

We live in a time when the country could seriously drive off a cliff
built out of debt. In response to this, the right has become more
libertarian, but other than Ron Paul, we lack a candidate who really
believes it. Maybe Michele Bachmann believes it, but she has come
across as too religious and not practical, and therefor has failed to
find a following.

If Newt Gingrich is the Answer, Tea Party has Failed

http://www.businessweek.com/politics-policy/joshua-green-on-politics/archives/2011/12/if_newt_gingrich_is_the_answer_tea_party_has_failed.html

... politics makes strange bedfellows.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Once You Go Conservative Black, You Better Watch Your Back

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47857

Re: China's model

On Dec 1, 2011, at 8:28 AM, "larry.r.trout


...This sounds great if you think that government is smarter at spending our money than we are.  China has grown so much because they started at the bottom and moved away from socialism, not toward it.  The author is an idiot.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Scientists Behaving Badly

"On second thought, maybe Lacey is being too harsh on Michael Mann. After all, he was cleared of any wrong doing by Penn State in an internal investigation. And we all know how well Penn State does internal investigations."




Sunday, November 27, 2011

Ron Paul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjBoAQw7bgo&feature=related

Our spending Problem

From: Larry Trout

'The failure of the supercommittee marks a good time to highlight just how out of control our federal spending really is. To see the matter in a clearer light, let's leave aside all disputes over tax revenues for the time being, and focus purely on spending.
 
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that federal spending has increased from $2.73 trillion in fiscal year 2007 to $3.60 trillion in fiscal year 2011. That's a whopping 32 percent increase in just five years. (Americans should have been so lucky with their incomes.) That figure has nothing to do with diminishing tax revenues. It is strictly the amount by which federal outlays have increased.
 
Looking forward, the CBO projects (see table 1-1) that the federal government will spend $5.68 trillion in 2021. That's an increase of 58 percent over 2011, and 108 percent over 2007. In other words, on our current trajectory, annual federal spending will more than double over the 15-year span from 2007 through 2021.
 
Given this substantial level of projected growth in federal spending, it doesn't seem like it would have been very hard to cut $1.2 trillion off of that number — thereby cutting 2021 spending from $5.68 to $4.48 trillion. Even $4.48 trillion in spending in 2021 would be an increase of 64 percent versus 2007 spending.
 
But that's not what the deficit committee was charged with doing — it wasn't charged with cutting $1.2 trillion from fiscal year 2021 spending. Instead, it had a far, far easier task. It needed only to cut spending by that amount over the entire decade from 2012 to 2021.'
 

socialized healthcare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4msVk_sdtdQ&feature=related

Global Warming


Socialism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rjYuaQ1Zho&feature=related

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Russia


From: larry.r.trout

'Would Russia Go To War Over The Trans-Caspian Pipeline?..

That seems unlikely, but it's a possibility that some Russian analysts have been discussing lately, as discussions between Turkmenistan and its would-be European partners over the pipeline have advanced.'

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64568

Fwd: History


From: larry.r.trout
History

This article has a Fascinating history lesson

'In the speech, Owen shared his dream of cooperative villages where workers would see their poverty alleviated and their spirits transformed. Inspired by the success of his New Lanark community in Scotland, where employees lived in hospitable conditions and the children of laborers received early childhood and primary education, Owen hoped to bring to America exquisitely planned spaces where a new, improved mankind would come into being. Owen thought his scientifically organized village would "lead to that state of virtue, intelligence, enjoyment, and happiness, in practice, which has been foretold by the sages of past times, and would at some distant period become the lot of the human race!" Utopia, according to Owen, was not confined to the printed page. Utopia could be realized.

The site of his American utopia would be New Harmony, on the Wabash River in southwest Indiana. Owen welcomed residents to his colony that April. "I am come to this country," he told them, "to introduce an entire new state of society, to change it from the ignorant, selfish system, to an enlightened social system which shall gradually unite all interests into one, and remove all cause for contests between individuals." There would be no 1 percent versus the 99 percent in New Harmony.

Things did not work as planned, however. Structuring a community along rational lines was extremely difficult. There weren't enough skilled laborers. Many of the residents were lazy. Shortages were commonplace. Central planning hampered the efficient allocation of meals. Factions split off from the main group. The community closely monitored the activities and beliefs of every member. Alcohol was banned. Children were separated from their parents; one later said she saw her "father and mother twice in two years." Owen expelled malcontents. Only his generous subsidies held New Harmony together.

And not for long. Owen's "new empire of peace and good will to man" fell apart within four years. But the socialist utopian impulse lives on to this day. America

in particular has a long and storied tradition of individuals coming together to create perfect societies. In these earthly utopias, competition is to be replaced by cooperation, private property is to dissolve into communal ownership, traditional family structures are to be transformed into the family of mankind, and religion is to be displaced by the spirit of scientific humanism. The names of these communities are familiar to any student of American history: Brook Farm, Oneida, the North American Phalanx. None of them lasted. None of them realized the ecstasy their founders desired.

Historian J.P. Talmon wrote in Political Messianism (1960) that the American and European utopians "all shared the totalitarian-democratic expectation of some pre-ordained, all-embracing, and exclusive scheme of things, which was presumed to represent the better selves, the true interests, the genuine will and the real freedom of men." The men and women behind the utopian movements drew inspiration from the French Revolution, which proclaimed the liberty, equality, and fraternity of all, and from the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who taught that individuals born free and equal were made subservient and estranged through the institutions of society and private property. Lost freedom could be recovered by dismantling the obstacles that prevent man from being true to himself. The reconstruction of society along rational lines would allow us to reclaim the state of natural bliss that had been lost.

Utopianism attracts goofballs as light attracts moths. The postrevolutionary thinker Charles Fourier was a classic example…'

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/anarchy-usa_609222.html?page=2

'When he looks at the world, the utopian is repelled by two things in particular. One is private property. "The civilized order," Fourier wrote, "is incapable of making a just distribution except in the case of capital," where your return on investment is a function of what you put in. Other than that, the market system is unjust

The utopian's other great hatred is for middle-class or "bourgeois" culture. Monogamy, monotheism, self-control, prudence, cleanliness, fortitude, self-interested laborthese are the utopian's enemies. "Morality teaches man to be at war with himself," Fourier wrote, "to resist his passions, to repress them, to believe that God was incapable of organizing our souls, our passions wisely." What were called the bourgeois virtues had been designed to maintain unjust social relations and stop man from being true to himself'

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/anarchy-usa_609222.html?page=3

Google Ends Effort To Make Cheap, Renewable Energy | Fox News

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/23/google-ends-effort-to-make-cheap-renewable-solar-energy/#ixzz1eY7XGkQR

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Fwd: dehydration


From: larry.r.trout
dehydration

'EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed yesterday after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: "This is stupidity writ large.

"The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

"If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it."'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8897662/EU-bans-claim-that-water-can-prevent-dehydration.html

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Markets Rebound in U.S. and Europe - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/business/global/daily-stock-market-activity.html

As others fall, Gingrich may challenge Romney’s hold on GOP field - The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-others-fall-gingrich-may-challenge-romneys-hold-on-gop-field/2011/11/10/gIQAmL9J9M_story.html

Why Iran wants the bomb - Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8879463/Why-Iran-wants-the-bomb.html

Sent from my iPhone

RealClearWorld - Five Reasons Why Obama Will Bomb Iran

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2011/11/10/five_reasons_why_obama_will_bomb_iran_99755.html

Sent from my iPhone

To Stop Iran, Lean on China? « Commentary Magazine

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/11/10/iran-china-nuclear-ambitions/

Sent from my iPhone

Eunomia » Reasons Not to Attack Iran

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/2011/11/09/reasons-not-to-attack-iran/

Why Obama Should Take Out Iran's Nuclear Program |

http://m.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136655/eric-s-edelman-andrew-f-krepinevich-jr-and-evan-braden-montgomer/why-obama-should-take-out-irans-nuclear-program

Monday, October 31, 2011

"Why Socialism"

I think that the following is an interesting read ...

"I am convinced there is only 
one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society.'

Albert Einstein

http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism


I wasn't going to comment.  I would have preferred to let his views stand on their own lack of merit.  But there is the danger that some people might think that I am a socialist.  

The problem is that socialism can only be achieved through the use of force by stealing from one person to give to another.   In practice, socialism provides so little incentive that socialist societies are dreadful places to live and collapse under their own weight.

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."

Winston Churchill




Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Save America’s Food

This is interesting. I don't agree with it ...


http://saveamericasfood.org/actnow/?utm_campaign=Q4_2011&utm_source=Resonate&utm_medium=CPM&utm_content=dontbite&utm_term=A-300

Fwd: Thomas Jefferson and how the USA will fall and why!


From: Dean McClain 

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe ."

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world."

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." 

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."


        All the above quotes from Thomas Jefferson.
- - -
Woodrow Wilson gave the USA to the Private Bankers when he signed the bill creating the Federal Reserve and the IRS 12/23/1913!
Brother Dean
Pray while you are able to the God who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think!
Springfield Missouri
History is always HIStory!
Free Speech - Use It or Lose It!
Freedom - Defend it Now or Lose it!
Independent Baptist by
Conviction and Practice
A Wise Man has a Teachable Spirit,


Monday, October 24, 2011

Election 101: Herman Cain - Who is he? - CSMonitor.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/0521/Election-101-Is-Herman-Cain-s-media-savvy-enough-to-make-him-presidential-10-things-to-know-about-him/Who-is-he

Sent from my iPhone

Flat Tax Proposals Are Perpetual Fount of False Promises: View - Businessweek

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-24/flat-tax-proposals-are-perpetual-fount-of-false-promises-view.html

South Florida Caribbean News

http://www.sflcn.com/story.php?id=10937

Sent from my iPhone

Herman Cain Addresses Racial Humor Controversy, Abortion, 999 Plan

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2011/10/24/herman-cain-abortion-999-plan_n_1028379.html

Herman Cain: Karl Rove is trying to destroy me

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66724.html

Commentary: On immigration, Herman Cain hits a sour note - KansasCity.com

For all the righteous GOP talk about "enforce the laws we have now," the association makes an important distinction: Current laws don't provide adequate workers for our labor needs, not legally.




Perry seeks to cash in on flat tax's enduring appeal - Decision 2012

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45000118/ns/politics-decision_2012/

Sent from my iPhone

South Florida Caribbean News

http://www.sflcn.com/story.php?id=10937

Herman Cain Addresses Racial Humor Controversy, Abortion, 999 Plan

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2011/10/24/herman-cain-abortion-999-plan_n_1028379.html

VP speaks in my home county

From: "Larry Trout" 

'Biden:'We think the federal government in Washington, D.C., should say to the cities and states, look, we're going to give you some money so that you can hire back all those people. And the way we're going to do it, we're going to ask people who have a lot of money to pay just a little bit more in taxes....
 

No problem, says the vice president. We're going to "ask" people who have "a lot of money" to "pay just a little bit more" in taxes.

Where are these people? Evidently, not in York, Pa. But they're out there somewhere. Who has "a lot of money"? According to President Obama, if your combined household income is over $250,000 a year you have "a lot of money." Back in March, my National Review colleague Kevin Williamson pointed out that, in order to balance the budget of the United States, you would have to increase the taxes of people earning more than $250,000 a year by $500,000 a year.

Okay, okay, maybe that 250K definition of "bloated plutocrat" is a bit off. After all, the quarter-mil-a-year category includes not only bankers and other mustache-twirling robber barons, but also at least 50 school superintendents in the State of New York and many other mustache-twirling selfless public servants.

So how about people earning a million dollars a year? That's "a lot of money" by anybody's definition. As Kevin Williamson also pointed out, to balance the budget of the United States on the backs of millionaires you would have to increase the taxes of those earning more than 1 million a year by 6 million a year.'

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/280986/biden-s-fourth-grade-economics-mark-steyn

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Fwd: The Austerity Death Trap


From: al grotz 

 
The article only considers the short term. Like a drug addict, the economy is bound to go through withdrawal symptoms. If we borrow like crazy
and the econonmy goes through a short term recovery, then the elite will put out the propaganda that we don't need budget cuts, that we
can afford the deficit and the debt, all the while getting richer off the interest, while the common people continue to work harder to pay for it. What do you think got us here in the first place? This constantly growing deficit and its interest payments have a lot to do with our problem.
An additional contributor to our problem is the shipping of a large portion of our factories overseas. Another short term solution. The wealthy get rich off of the slave labor of countries that don't have labor laws and we get to buy cheap products, but the long term result is that we don't have jobs with which to buy anything any more, whether produced here or overseas. I guess in a global free market economy, like the waters of the ocean, the disadvantaged countries are likely to improve their standard of living, while the countries of people who have nearly everything they need and are living comfortably (e.g. the U.S.) are bound to come down closer to the level of the poor countries. In the end every country that is properly managed will be living at approxiamately the same standard of living. In other words, one day the poor Chinese workers will be earning the same wage as the U.S. citizen, and vice versa. Are you ready for that leveling? The U.S., even in the midst of its economic turmoil, still has a population that is living pretty comfortably. Nearly every one is living in a house, or a pretty nice apartment. Nearly everyone has a T.V. and a cell phone. Nearly everyone has a car, etc. etc., oh, not to mention, everyone is eating! Are you ready to come closer to the Chinese standard of living? When they are done exploiting 4 billion people in China to the point where their wages have come a little closer to ours, they will be off to Africa or some other frontier where they can exploit people for much less than the Chinese.
That's not to say that the U.S. citizen has to become more poor. There may be enough wealth in the world
for everyone to live comfortably, especially with a world full of innovative bright minds that are always figuring out how to improve things.
But as long as our elite control America and the Chinese elite control China, the playing field will never be fair for the average worker.
We can continue to use a large portion of our labor to give welfare to the elite in the form of large interest payments from our government.
Still a third contributor to our economic problems is illegal immigrants. In some ways this is much more deabilitating than the competition above, because the illegal immigrant gains unfair advantages over the U.S. citizen. He doesn't have to pay taxes (unless he has stolen your SSN, that's another whole issue) so companies can afford to pay him much less to begin with. By his very entry he also, some how, mysteriously gains immediate rights to services that even I was not able to obtain after paying taxes into the system and working hard for the same company for 23 years. (I didn't get disability because "it wasn't a permanent injury". I didn't get worker's comp "because you can't prove the injury is work related." I didn't get unemployment "because you are not medically fit to seek work. Therefore you cannot qualify for unemployment because one of the requirements is that you apply for work twice every week. It doesn't matter that you are applying, you will never get one of those jobs because you are medically unqualified to get one." Incidently, I didn't get a severance pay either.) So here a person can sneak into our country, who has no history with the country, who has never paid taxes and thereby has never built up an "account" with us, and yet they have rights to our schools, medical services, etc. Someone has to pay for those services. Guess who? Another form of coperate welfare, as legal workers pay for services for illegal immigrants through their tax burden so that cooperations don't have to pay a wage that is high enough to make the job attractive to a U.S. citizen (that has, you know, all that baggage, like part of his wages will go to taxes.)
One more word about illegal immigrants. (And let's be clear about one thing, I hold nothing against any of them as persons, but the fact is we have to talk some common sense here, we have to talk sustainablility. If you want to be charitable to people who come from other countries who are at a disadvantage, you are free to give as much of your own money as you want to. But don't commit all of us, against our will, through an unsustainable govermental policy.) I live and work in Thailand. Despite the fact that I have worked for the same school for years and have both a visa and a work permit, every few months I have to check in with the government and tell them again what my address is. Every year I have to jump through the hoops, fill out the paperwork, and sit in the immigration office a couple of times for hours with an employee of the school who verifies that they are employing me and that they can't do without my services (e.g. a Thai cannot do accurately what I do.) If at some point the Thais decide they don't want me any more I would understand that is all part of the process, and go somewhere where people do want me.
Entering the country illegally has never even occurred to me. And even if I did enter the country illegally, I would understand right from the start that I was illegal. I would always know that I didn't belong here, and I would always know that sooner or later I may be caught. I would always understand that if I got caught I would immediately be deported. You would not hear me saying, "But, oh, it's not fair! I have been here 20 years now. I have a wife and kids here now. It's not fair, it's not right to deport me!" I would have known I was illegal all along, and everything I did here I did with that knowledge and with that risk. I would have no grounds to cry "unfair". So, sorry, illegal immigrants knew all along they would someday be deported. Getting away with breaking the law for many years doesn't justify it or change the position.
So, the above three things are in my view three very large contributors of our economic woes, 1.)The budget deficit with its slavery of interest payments, which is making some people very wealthy 2.) Factories overseas. 3.) Millions upon millions of illegal immigrants who don't have to pay taxes (except for those who have stolen our identities) and who have immediate access to services that have not been earned.
Al

Fwd: non-criminal illegal aliens


From: larry.r.trout
non-criminal illegal aliens

'The Obama administration soon will begin its systematic review of the approximately 300,000 pending deportation cases, separating "high priority" cases involving criminals it wants to deport from "low priority" cases it will drop, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress Wednesday.

The effort marks another point in an evolution of immigration enforcement away from the worksite raids of the Bush administration and towards deportations of illegal immigrants in prisons and jails.

Napolitano said a group of Homeland Security and Justice Department officials will begin a small "pilot" review of immigration cases in "two or three" weeks, and hopes to rapidly expand its efforts.

Under the policy announced last year, federal immigration officials will place the highest priority on deporting illegal immigrants who pose a danger to public safety and national security, while "administratively closing" other cases, taking into consideration a list of factors. Those factors include the person's length of time in the United States, whether the immigrant arrived as a child, served in the military and has a spouse, child or parent who is a U.S. citizen.

DHS officials say the new policy, which gives immigration officials "prosecutorial discretion," is similar to policies of previous administrations, and is a "common sense" approach to immigration enforcement

Napolitano said the department's focus on criminal illegal immigrants is better than "the ad hoc approach where non-criminal aliens are more likely to be removed than criminals."'

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/politics/napolitano-deportation-reviews/?hpt=us_c1

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Herman Cain’s Tax Plan Changes G.O.P. Primary Math

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/us/politics/herman-cains-tax-plan-changes-gop-primary-math.html?_r=2

Fwd: Subprime


From:
larry.r.trout

'Research by Edward Pinto, a former chief credit officer of Fannie has shown that 27 million loans—half of all mortgages in the U.S.—were subprime or otherwise weak by 2008. That is, the loans were made to borrowers with blemished credit, or were loans with no or low down payments, no documentation, or required only interest payments.

Of these, over 70% were held or guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie or some other government agency or government-regulated institution. Thus it is clear where the demand for these deficient mortgages came from.'

'Beginning in 1992, the government required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to direct a substantial portion of their mortgage financing to borrowers who were at or below the median income in their communities. The original legislative quota was 30%. But the Department of Housing and Urban Development was given authority to adjust it, and through the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations HUD raised the quota to 50% by 2000 and 55% by 2007.'

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203633104576623083437396142.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read


'As housing bubbles grow, rising prices suppress delinquencies and defaults. People who could not meet their mortgage obligations could refinance or sell, because their houses were now worth more.

Accordingly, by the mid-2000s, investors had begun to notice that securities based on subprime mortgages were producing the high yields, but not showing the large number of defaults, that are usually associated with subprime loans. This triggered strong investor demand for these securities, causing the growth of the first significant private market for MBS based on subprime and other risky mortgages.

When the bubble deflated in 2007, an unprecedented number of weak mortgages went into default, driving down housing prices throughout the U.S. and throwing Fannie and Freddie into insolvency. Seeing these sudden losses, investors fled from the market for privately issued MBS, and mark-to-market accounting required banks and others to write down the value of their mortgage-backed assets to the distress levels in a market that now had few buyers. This raised questions about the solvency and liquidity of the largest financial institutions and began a period of great investor anxiety.'

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

NY 'Occupy' Protests Evolved From Magazine Appeal - ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=14724840

Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap May Reshape Regional Politics - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/world/middleeast/israeli-palestinian-prisoner-swap-rattles-regional-politics.html

U.S. aims to "unite the world" against Iran October 12, 2011

http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?feed_id=0&catid=20119095&videofeed=36

Cain Jumps to Lead Among Republicans - WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204774604576627282855836292.html

Republican Candidates in Debate Divide on Economy

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/us/politics/republican-candidates-in-debate-divide-on-economy.html?_r=2

Wingless, Bloodsucking and Parasitic: Meet the Flea Party! - HUMAN EVENTS

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46830

Re: Full Report: The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America


From: larry.r.trout
Subject:
 OWS

'The protests consist mainly of people who believe that economic and social justice requires a form of economic organization other than capitalism. That may not lend itself to a five-point plan, but it's an agenda nonetheless.

It's a decidedly misguided agenda. The protesters are massively wrong about the incompatibility of capitalism and social justice.

Social justice shouldn't be measured on what the rich have, which is the fixation of the protesters. Instead, the focus should be on the lot of the poor. The spread of market capitalism has done more to improve living standards for more of the world's poor than anything else in human history.

There is, however, a serious social justice problem that has developed in American market capitalism. Two of the bridges to the middle class for those without a college education – manufacturing and construction – have been eroded. Manufacturing jobs haven't been lost mainly to free trade, as the brief against capitalism would have it, but to sharply improved productivity. And construction wages have been undermined by illegal immigrant labor.'

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/10/12/a_problem_with_wall_street_not_capitalism_111652.html

Full Report: The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America

This makes a real interesting read. It is closely related to the economic protests happening right now.  It is worded with the same tone as The Communist Manifesto.  There are a few valid points...  I also have concerns about the Federal Reserve System, as did J.F. Kennedy. 

I think that the article plays very loose with the facts.   It blames the top 1% of income earners, who by the way make 24% of the national income and pay 40% of all federal income taxes.  The article claims that if we tax these people more, the other 99% of the population can triple their income and can get free houses and free medical care.   There is no way mathematically that this could be true, by a factor of 10 to 1, assuming you took most of the income of the top 1%.   These lies make the article seem like snake oil.   Many of its other claims seem exaggerated as well. 

The main problem with the logic is that there are indeed people who do extraordinarily well, but they are few and far in-between.  I have often heard that if you tax everyone who makes a million dollars per year at 100% of their income, you wouldn't make much of a dent in the federal budget deficit.  

Not all the top 1% are CEO's as the article implies.  Many are small business owners and farmers.  In terms of accumulated wealth, and not income, the majority are retirees or near retirees who spent a lifetime saving for their retirement. 

Individual income and standard of living have improved dramatically in my lifetime.  Obviously the long term economic trends have been very favorable for most Americans.   One bad recession does not justify demolishing the entire economic system.  

The article does not go into the real cause of the economic collapse, which was major government intervention in the housing credit market. 

"Redistribution of Wealth: Due to the rigging of our economic and political system, vast sums of wealth have been hoarded by the Economic Elite over the past 40 years. This money must be redistributed to the 99% of Americans who have been robbed and exploited. There will be much heated debate over how this money should be distributed, but we all need to agree that we must first hold the Economic Elite accountable and *our* wealth must be seized from them."




Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Fwd: 1 life for 1000


From: larry.r.trout

1 Israeli soldier exchanged for 1000.

Idiots.

'"The deal will happen in two stages -- the first stage the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners, including 315 Palestinian prisoners that have one or many life sentences and the ones who are with high sentences. The second stage will include 550 Palestinian prisoners," he said.

The exchange will also include the release of 27 Palestinian female prisoners, said Meshaal.'

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/world/meast/israel-shalit-release/

Why Herman Cain's poll numbers might rise even higher - CSMonitor.com

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/1011/Why-Herman-Cain-s-poll-numbers-might-rise-even-higher

Christie Endorses Romney Ahead Of GOP Debate

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/11/christie-to-endorse-romney-for-president/

Perry under pressure at Republican debate

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE79A0NV20111011?irpc=932

E-mails Link Solyndra Investors, Campaign Donors and White House

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46791

Fwd: Iran assassination plot


From: larry.r.trout

'FBI and DEA agents have disrupted a plot to commit a "significant terrorist act in the United States" tied to Iran, federal officials told ABC News today.

The officials said the plot included the assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, with a bomb and subsequent bomb attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. Bombings of the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were also discussed, according to the U.S. officials.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an announcement today that the plan was "conceived, sponsored and was directed from Iran" by a faction of the government and called it a "flagrant" violation of U.S. and international law.

"The U.S. is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions," Holder said.'


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-iran-tied-terror-plot-washington-dc-disrupted/story?id=14711933

Hank Williams

From: Daniel

 

Interesting program this morning on the GB radio.

One thing that didn’t matter all that much to me was the interview with Hank Williams Jr. last week where they were supposed to be talking about his release of his dads new album, a reproduction I presume.  And they (anchorman & woman) questioned him on his politics (“what do you think, let’s get your opinion”) & he commented on a golf game the president went on.  Then ABC was offended & pulled his song off the Monday night football broadcast.

 

Any way they were playing his new song this morning.  Just one week after the NBC fiasco, Hank Jr. was singing a song called “I’ll keep the USA & you can keep the Change”.  Awesome how he is now slamming the media networks & insinuating that they have given into “The United Socialist States of America”

I love it, how do you like him now NBC.

 

Dan H.

 

Hayek on Keynes (1978)

http://www.wallstreetallstars.com/2011/09/23/hayek-on-keynes-1978/

Friedrich Hayek Joins Ayn Rand as a Hypocritical User of Medicare « naked capitalism

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/friedrich-hayek-joins-ayn-rand-as-a-hypocritical-user-of-medicare.html

Iowa Caucuses May Be Unpredictable for Romney and Perry

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/us/politics/iowa-caucuses-may-be-unpredictable-for-romney-and-perry.html?_r=1

Friday, October 7, 2011

Sorting Out the ‘Extremists’

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jonah100711.php3

Fwd: In the Red

'"stimulus spending" is what you might call a genuine Bolshevik plot. Why? One of the Kremlin's greatest agents you probably never heard of played a leading role in introducing stimulus spending as a macroeconomic policy for the first time in U.S. history during the Franklin D. Roosevelt years.

The agent's name was Lauchlin Currie, and, as M. Stanton Evans writes in his indispensable 2007 book "Blacklisted by History," he ranks "among the most influential Soviet agents ever in the U.S. government, if only by virtue of his portfolio in the White House dealing with affairs of China." Currie, an administrative assistant to FDR, was instrumental in the U.S.-government-wide communist plot to turn China red.

But that's not all he did. Currie pops up in nine KGB cables translated by American cryptographers in what is known as the Venona Project, which became public in 1995. From these and other archival sources we have learned that Currie passed secret documents and shared sensitive political intelligence with Soviet spymasters. Equally as damaging, Currie used his stature as a senior Roosevelt aide to shut down investigations into the activities of other American traitors operating inside government.

While I haven't seen mention of Currie's economic activities in KGB documents, how does stimulus spending sound now on discovering that this bona fide Soviet agent was its leading proponent? In "Roosevelt, the Great Depression and the Economics of Recovery" (University of Virginia Press, 2005), Elliot Rosen, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers, writes: "The initial rationale for public expenditure as a stimulus to the economy was provided by Currie, who won a wide and influential audience in the Roosevelt administration." As assistant research director for the Federal Reserve, his position before moving to the White House, "Currie provided an economic rationale" for deficit spending. "Wartime aside," Rosen writes, "no precedent existed for budget unbalance." Not surprisingly, another Currie project was to push for the "abandonment of the concept of annual budget balance."'

http://jewishworldreview.com/1011/west100711.php3

For some protesters, Steve Jobs wasn’t just a billionaire, he was ‘beneficial’ to society

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/for-some-protesters-steve-jobs-wasnt-just-a-billionaire-he-was-beneficial-to-society/2011/10/07/gIQARuN0RL_story.html

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fwd: Putin's back

'Putin has proposed forming a "Eurasian Union" of former Soviet nations'

'Russian police have brutally dispersed an opposition rally in Moscow.

Police spokesman Gennady Bugachyov said 24 people were detained Tuesday.

Riot police broke up the protest outside a subway station minutes after the activists formed a chain and started chanting slogans against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The protesters also tried to unfurl banners criticizing upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

The police were seen twisting protesters' arms and forcing them into police vans.

Putin is expected to reclaim the presidency, raising the possibility he could prolong his increasingly authoritarian rule through 2024.'

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/04/2438092/russian-police-detain-24-opposition.html

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Finally, The Cognoscenti Ask: What Could We Be Thinking?

But sometimes Obama cronyism is murderous: Eric Holder, a man unfit to be attorney general of the United States, continues to stonewall the "Fast and Furious" investigation into taxpayer-funded government gun-running to Mexican drug cartels.

It is alleged that the administration chose to facilitate the sale of American weapons to crime kingpins south of the border in order to support a case for gun control north of the border. Evidence keeps piling up:

The other day, a letter emerged from ATF supervisor David Voth authorizing Special Agent John Dodson to buy Draco pistols to sell directly to known criminals. Over 200 Mexicans are believed to have been killed by "Fast and Furious" weapons — that is to say, they were killed by a U.S. government program.

Doesn't the New York Times care about dead Mexicans? Doesn't Newsweek or CBS News? Isn't Obamaism with a body-count sufficiently eye-catching even for the U.S. press? 

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/ArticlePrint.aspx?id=586601&p=1


Saturday, October 1, 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Tea Party: We will challenge Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana

http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/dick-lugar-indiana-tea-party/

Tim Suttle: The Irony of the Tea Party

"In a world of laissez-faire capitalism and absolute individual liberty, might is the only right -- that's fascism."


In what universe?



The Era Of Sarah Palin Has Begun Like It Or Not | US for Palin

http://us4palin.com/the-era-of-sarah-palin-has-begun-like-it-or-not/

Democrats Seek Immigration Relief for Gay Couples - HUMAN EVENTS

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46545

The Kool-Aid's a Staple in U.S. Schools, Warns Marybeth Hicks

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46544

Solar Energy School Propaganda 101

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46537

Could Christie survive the Tea Party?

http://www.app.com/article/C0/20110929/NJNEWS/309290055/Could-Christie-survive-Tea-Party-

Letter: Tea Party is consistent - Camdenton, MO

http://www.lakenewsonline.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x325095670/Letter-Tea-Party-is-consistent?mobRedir=false

Fla. Republican leaders back away from immigration reform plans - Politics Wires

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/30/2432242/fla-republican-leaders-back-away.html

Morgan Freeman Receives Invite To Tea Party After He Calls Movement Racist | Fox News

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/29/morgan-freeman-receives-invite-to-tea-party-after-calls-movement-racist/

Is Herman Cain the New Tea-Party Favorite for 2012?

http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/09/is-herman-cain-the-new-tea-party-favorite-for-2012/245920/

Tea party audience boos Ron Paul for explaining motive of al Qaeda

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/09/tea-party-audience-boos-ron-paul-for-explaining-motive-of-al-qaeda/

... makes me less sympathetic to Ron Paul.

POLL: CAIN ON TOP, PERRY PLUMMETS... :: TeaParty.org

http://www.teaparty.org/article.php?id=1389

Tea Party gets bad rap for telling truth :: TeaParty.org

http://www.teaparty.org/article.php?id=1396

Israel and the Jews – Persecutor of Palestine and Islam?

Maybe the rhetoric is a little biased...

http://www.teaparty.org/article.php?id=1398

Religion of Peace To Murder Christian Pastor :: TeaParty.org

http://www.teaparty.org/article.php?id=1390

Tea Party

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/

Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, September 29, 2011

New poll shows Mitt Romney back on top September 29, 2011

http://m.cbsnews.com/blogsstorysynopsis.rbml?feed_id=71&catid=20113438&videofeed=null

A 2012 boom for Cain, but winning will be tougher

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE78S6EU20110929?irpc=932

Why Amazon's Kindle Fire is like a razor blade | News - Wireless - CNET News

http://m.cnet.com/Article.rbml?nid=20113569&cid=null&bcid=&bid=-94

Why the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance Is Unprecedented and Unconstitutional

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/12/why-the-personal-mandate-to-buy-health-insurance-is-unprecedented-and-unconstitutional

Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Preexisting condition

'Additionally, banning insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions helps to ensure that every American who can afford it has insurance.  We don't let people wait until after they've been in a car accident to apply for auto insurance and get reimbursed, and we don't want to do that with health care.  If we're going to outlaw discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, people should not be allowed to game the system and raise costs on everyone else.'

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/28/obama-administration-asks-supreme-court-hear-health-care-lawsuit

Based on this car insurance companies should not discriminate against higher risk(cost) drivers, just because they have been in a few accidents 

Judge backs key parts of Alabama immigration law

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/28/MNGB1LAVDL.DTL

Europe Meltdown, Global Slump Seen Next Year: Poll

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-29/world-recession-seen-triggered-by-europe-breakdown-in-global-investor-poll.html

Feds Foil Remote-Controlled Plane Terror Attack on Washington

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=14626433