Open Letter To Chris Gibson

Chris,

There is no micro debt crisis. The stampede is being run again without comment.  The press is executing their part in the plan perfectly, as usual. Old school republicans are running around wondering how not to be blamed for a stampede they didn't start, so they join in. {Now that I think of it, they did help start it}

There will be no default on our obligations unless the President ORDERS it.  Normally, no president would do that, but the current titular president intends to crash the nation.  We talked about this over a year ago. I pray you come to agree with this view. It is alien to our way of thinking, but it is quite sane in the world of Marx as supported by oligarchy.

The nation is playing the wrong game again. I doubt he is considering a second term so his engine has no governor. He just needs to execute his subversive role. If he had a history, birth certificate, writings, respect for the Constitution, or friends that contradict my alaysis, I might hold my thoughts.

There is no micro crisis.  The macro one has moved beyond the crisis stage and we are diverted by inside baseball reporting. Stephen King wrote in a book whose name I cannot recall: He was closing doors in front of him and would not hear them lock for years.

I cannot drone on about von Mises, Marxist methods, and Keynesian delusion, I can only say if one "compromises" one's principals, then he has none.

-------------------

PS:  what's with this tick thing?  A NEW government committee?  To what? Study ticks? This is the sort of thing that has pushed us over the deep divide.  Here is the solution:  get all the towns to permit guinea hens.  Then, release irradiated females.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique

http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/ticks/tickstudy.pdf

"Committees are, by nature, timid. They are based on the premise of safety in numbers; content to survive inconspicuously, rather than take risks and move independently ahead. Without independence, without the freedom for new ideas to be tried, to fail, and to ultimately succeed, the world will not move ahead, but live in fear of its own potential." Dr. Ferdinand Porsche”

Can I put in an invoice for $250,000 for that solution?

My best and support

Gene (of the Irregulars)

Read This Blog: You are losing your wealth daily

This blog is vitally important, please suffer through it


I have an ING stock account that was designed to automatically buy shares in any odd-lot amount every month.  It was a handy way to invest before stocks became dubious and being in the dollar crazy. Now, I only have a few thousand shares in a Canadian gold mine and I am waiting for them to find mud, so my shares will jump through the .01 per share level.


ING has created a new place to park uninvested money, a bank account.  This is in addition to their money market for uninvested funds.  Here are the respective rates in the advertisement:

New FDIC Insured  Cash Balance	Money Market   Cash Balance
0.50% APY1	0.01%

How are returns calculated?

Wow.  Half a percent! FDIC insured!  I wonder what PayPal is offering?


This announcement is a reminder to look at the real inflation rate to see how how the dollar is doing to preserve our wealth. If you do anything, go to the end and see how your dollar is doing vs. gold.


There is a great site that undoes the lying in government statistics which you can find by clicking on the headline. If you are a grown up, you lived through inflation during the Carter years, Carter now being the second worst president.

Inflation

There was near hysteria over the Carter inflation rate, he was 1977 to 1981, so the government met the problem of hysteria by redefining inflation so it could report more attractive numbers.


The government would never lie (also called "errors") to us, would they?


From John Williams 2004 introductory essay on the manipulation of numbers and the theory behind "shadow stats" from the above site:

· As former Labor Secretary Bob Reich explained in his memoirs, the Clinton administration had found in its public polling that if the government inflated economic reporting, enough people would believe it to swing a close election. Accordingly, whatever integrity had survived in the economic reporting system disappeared during the Clinton years. Unemployment was redefined to eliminate five million discouraged workers and to lower the unemployment rate; methodologies were changed to reduce poverty reporting, to reduce reported CPI inflation, to inflate reported GDP growth, among others. 

The new inflation rate does not include food and fuel. This is what we used to call lying. Still you can rest assured, if you get your news from TV, as your gas prices double, there is no inflation.


Say, what could cause inflation?



Since inflation is classically  defined in relation to the monetary base, I guess we ought to look at that. See graph.


If you are an economist, you will not see anything out of the ordinary under the Obama reign. Still, give it a try.


The current dispute over the debt ceiling is about not having more increases as debt requires the increase of the monetary base through creating "money."


Do notice the shaded area that captures the whole crap shoot. Notice the correlation between monetary base and the real inflation rate in the first graph.


Bottom Line:  If you get 1/2% interest and your dollar is devaluing at 10% a year, your money is vanishing.  Is this just the whim of economics?  


No, it is an intentional inflation. In the end, it is the transference of your wealth to others.  It is stealing designed by the people we elected into office. I repeat:  it is stealing. The government and banks will NEVER tell you this as they are taking your money. Your stock broker will NEVER recommend you buy gold. 


In addition, since it is humanly impossible for citizens to pay our national debts, inflation is the only way we can water down our money so we can pay our bills. You will lose your wealth, investors will lose their return, and no one will invest in the U.S. so our interest rates will skyrocket. 


A John Williams analysis in 2008 and he still stands behind it:

...The U.S. economy is in an intensifying inflationary recession that eventually will evolve into a hyperinflationary great depression. Hyperinflation could be experienced as early as 2010, if not before, and likely no more than a decade down the road. The U.S. government and Federal Reserve already have committed the system to this course through the easy politics of a bottomless pocketbook, the servicing of big-moneyed special interests, and gross mismanagement....

This simple fact is why gold is so popular, from Seeking Alpha:

I suppose I should find the coffee vs. dollar graph.
-------------------------


A closing note from Williams:

...As a result of the systemic manipulations, if the GDP methodology of 1980 were applied to today's data, the second quarter's annualized inflation-adjusted GDP growth of 3.0% would be roughly three percent lower (effectively netting to zero percent or below). In like manner, current annual CPI inflation is understated by about 2.7% against the pre-Clinton CPI methodology (would be about 5.7%), and the unemployment rate is understated by about seven percent against its original design and what many people would consider to be actual unemployment (would be about 12.5%). 

As to the financial results of federal operations, the application of accrual accounting and generally accepted accounting principles to federal operations shows an actual fiscal year 2003 deficit of $3.7 trillion, as reported by the U.S. Treasury, versus the reported cash-basis $374 billion....

Cognitive dissonance and Assumptions

Image: William Strang's "The Conspirators"


When we are children, we can sustain the idea that there is a conspiracy against us as we only have a few likely suspects. 


As life gets more complex, it is more difficult to hold onto massive conspiracies, so one grows in perspective and looks for either a master conspirator, so subtle they can move movers who do not see the hand (I hold on to this one), or that there are truly different perceptions. (This is also true.)


I argue that one should never attack another's conclusions. That avoids the real issue no matter how happy it makes one feel. We all need to look at the assumptions that yield what seems as odd conclusions. There is no argument with conclusions. Nor, is there any use, other than for fun, in attacking morons who disagree with you.


Below is the beginning of an article today by the head of Guggenheim Partners Asset Management. Mr. Minerd is a wonderful writer, a clear thinker, built up to his point in an literate fashion for a web article:

Europe Needs to Overcome Its Cognitive Dissonance:

In the early 1950s, the American social psychologist Leon Festinger conducted an experiment that provides a valuable insight into Europe’s current troubles.

He encountered a religious cult that believed UFOs were coming to rescue its members from a cataclysmic flood that would destroy the earth. He infiltrated the group to research a theory he called “cognitive dissonance,” or the psychological tension experienced when people are presented with evidence that contradicts their assumptions or beliefs.

“People only accept change in necessity, and see necessity only in crisis....”

When the prophesied Day of Judgment came and went, without so much as a drop of rain or a flying saucer sighting, Festinger observed how the members coped with the dissonance of reality. Because the group had committed considerable expense in support of its view, altering its course was simply too costly. Instead, the leadership transposed its expectation to a future date, and encouraged followers to escalate their commitment and even proselytize others. Some members found a way to lessen the pain of disconfirmation; but ultimately, reality would prevail.

Festinger concluded, “Though they may try to hide it, even from themselves, the believers still know that the prediction was false and all their preparations were in vain. The dissonance cannot be eliminated completely by denying or rationalizing the disconfirmation.”

Political Psychology

In many ways, this paradoxical story is analogous to the political psychology of the European debt crisis. Policy makers have committed, at considerable cost, to a path of bailouts and austerity programs. The recent European Council agreement out of Brussels offers more of the same -- billions in additional liquidity, yet no meaningful structural solutions.

It should be painfully clear by now that liquidity is not the answer. Equally evident is that austerity is not the cure. Throughout the European periphery, the disconfirming data mount as the calendar marches forward. Time, once thought a precious ally that could be bought for a price, is proving to be an adversary. It most certainly is not healing all wounds, as the economic data attest.

Thus far in 2011, Greece’s debt burden, budget deficit, cost of funding and unemployment rate are rising, while its economic output and tax revenue are declining. Ireland and Portugal are likely to follow in Greece’s footsteps and need additional support. Complicating matters further is the continued rise in interest rates in Italy and Spain, which puts additional pressure on their anemic economic growth and fragile banking systems. By the fourth quarter, economic contraction is likely to have engulfed the entire European periphery.

Austerity Doesn’t Work

In short, the data are proving that without currency devaluation, austerity simply doesn’t work. Crisis in Europe has not been averted; it has only been modestly postponed. Yet policy makers remain committed to the path of waiting and hoping for the best, seemingly oblivious to the need for significant structural reform.

I was all in on this article until here.  The clear solution to this stereotypical Wall Street guy is all he can see is the Keynesian perspective:

What action should European leaders pursue? As Sherlock Holmes said, “When all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Admitted or not, the realization hitting European policy makers is that the survival of the euro region will inevitably require a greater degree of fiscal unification. As German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble recently confessed, “The nation state as the sole level of policy making has exhausted its effectiveness.” He also admitted, “When we founded this monetary union, Germany was in favor of a political union, too.”

Narrowing the Discussion

Although “political union” is a vague term, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has narrowed the discussion. He asked rhetorically in a recent speech, “Would it be too bold, in the economic field, with a single market, a single currency and a single central bank, to envisage a ministry of finance of the union?” Under Trichet’s proposal, the European Union would have the power to veto the budget measures of countries that go “harmfully astray.” In an indirect fashion, his wish has already been partially granted. Greece, Ireland and Portugal are currently subject to governance by the EU, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund.

The argument remains that Europe is far from possessing the political will for increased fiscal union. Politicians view it as unsalable to nationalist constituents. But the lack of action by European leaders may do the selling for them as the crisis deepens. As Jean Monnet, the man who built the very foundation for the European Union, once said, “People only accept change in necessity, and see necessity only in crisis....”

I sent in a reply comment suggesting that if we are all in a row boat that is sinking, the answer may not be organizing people into rowing faster.  There is a more natural and inevitable way to end the pressure bankers and politicians are putting on us. Simply end the Keynesian house of cards we have permitted our elitists to build.

Simply return to sound "money" and the protection of the individual's property.  Do this, and all else fades over time.  As I say, it is inevitable as each of us, the many parts of the foundation of our economics, will make our own decision to withdraw from the paper game of bankers and government.  The human moves quickly and quietly when their own well-being is confronted. No structure can predict is or control it, once consciousness is poked.

Like I say, store silver coins. That will make you the solution, though the government may be after you in its death throws.  So, bury it deeply.

Or, buy coffee and store it

So you owe, oh super roughly, $5,046,666,666.

Below is a letter I wrote to an editor of Bloomberg News who is responsible for a vapid article: Americans Disgusted As Politicians Bicker.


(The photo has a caption that says 45% of Americans strongly disapprove of Mr. Obama's handling of the debt crisis. This is not really a fair number as he is not handling anything.)


I hope my math was accurate.

To:  mtannen@bloomberg.net

I don't usually respond to site articles, but Bloomberg is a significant site that should attempt to stick to news and facts. In addition, I have become Cassandra and watch without any ability to interfere, still I am motivated to take some action.   

We are in a major crossing point, right now, concerning the nature of our future society; it is a time for grown ups to turn off the baseball game and think. Nothing is the same and we are sleep walking into the future. 

This article is not news, obvously.  It is some weird Californian reportage on what the writer thinks is important as supported by unexplained polls and anecdotes.  I suppose one has to write anything to meet deadlines and obligations. 

Still, facts are nasty buggers and the opinion of insipid people are not facts. For example, the Social Security trust has 2.4 TRILLION DOLLARS in T bills and has a mechanism to sell some to meet obligations.  Anyone who thinks there is no money for that is beyond incompetent. 

The US takes in 200 billion dollars per month in revenue and our debt load is 20 billion.  THERE IS PLENTY to meet our bond obligations. 

The president, in his grand class warfare style, is scaring old people and Bloomberg reorters with his irresponsible rhetoric.   This is beyond offensive.  I fear for our entire system as people have become drones and take spin as real facts.

I am an American and, contrary to the article's headline (usually a summary of fact), I am delighted that there is a deadlock.  The less these people do, the better.  I am on social security and remain delighted.  In fact, if the talks stall and the entire system collapses, I would be concerned for myself, but rejoice for my nation.  People used to know that a crisis requires personal effort and deprivation.

We are on the edge of a debt that will never be paid in anyone's lifetime.  We are on the edge of implosion, followed by the insertion of the state to save us from our nasty old Constitution.  The "billions" we are discussing are chump change in comparison to the socialization of our economy.  Permit me to use numbers rather than say "trillions," as numbers show the truth.

We owe:  $14,000,000,000,000  (and, of course, also have to pay current bills)

Let us say we are 300,000,000 people.  

That comes to  14,000,000 divided by 300 to arrive at the debt each of us as, even a one year old.  The result: $46,666.666.  Notice the 666 motif.  This is the begining of the debt and does not include trillions per year to pay for clerks and Marxist czars.  

I Googled "Number of Americans who pay taxes" and page after page appeared about stories who don't pay taxes. So, I will guess that under 100,000,000 actually pay any income tax.  Using that number, exactitude is pointless, we arrive at a debt of $139,999 per taxpayers.  On top of that is locked in future payments that I have read run from $250,000,000,000,000 to $700,000,000,000,000.  We reach the point where computation of personal debt load is not even worth considering.  It would be like trying to understand astronomical distances.  

Oh, lets try.  say 500,000,000,000,000 divided by 100,000,000 workers.  That is another debt obligation of $5,000,000 upon each tax payer. So you owe, oh super roughly, $5,046,666,666.

So, do you want to raise the debt ceiling?  

What in the hell are we talking about in this "crisis?"  This political game in D.C. is the last charade.  Nothing will ever be the same, so the rest of us have to think about how bad things will be and how we can apply for citizenship in Costa Rica.  

Five years ago, 75% of MDs worked in private practice.  That number is now 45% and dropping. Doctors want nothing to do with Big Brother and will retire or move into hospitals where they can earn a fixed salary. What does that mean?  Visit the DMV.  We will be told not to worry, as we can offer assisted suicide. The cost of socialism is your life.

The market has mechanisms to fix the profligate and stupid.  The stupid are turned upside down, wrung out, and sent away or killed off.  This is how we became the finest society in history.  Now, we have the government rewarding stupidity, then joining it.  The problem with the government is they do not believe printing money (aka debt paper) just to pay off the credit card company has any hazard attached.  This is moral hazard beyond anyone's comprehension.  This is the stuff of Alice in Wonderland.

There will be no default unless it is ordered by the president, something he could do in between dinner and a show.  He has no concern for our problems,  as his mission is to create a collapse of our system.  I won't argue this point, if you do not see this, you will. 

I realize Bloomberg cannot help being, what used to be called a "runing dog" or a "useful idiot," but I recommend reading Eric Hoffer's True Believer to understand how self-styled intellectuals are the first target after a coup.  Be very careful in you cavalier attitude.  There will be no avenue to criticize the oligarchy.  They know this and will cut off your knees before you had the idea that you may be backing the wrong horse. Perhaps, our "intellectuals" will come to see their academic fancy is forging their own prisons. 

After that, try The Road To Serfdom.  

Perhaps, it is not too late.  

Gene Cunningham

Its the Constitution, Stupid!

United States Congress

with President at White House Conference

I mentioned in my recent letter, published here, to Representative Gibson that, as he knew, revenue bills originate in the House of Representatives, essentially saying, "What the hell is the Senate doing?" Revenue bills originate from the House. see Constitution below.

I return to my core argument all these years, the rules matter. Due process defines us, not bills and decisions.  Hitler made all sorts of efficient ruling.

The idea, I suppose, is that when a deal drafted by the Senate, with the advice and consent of the President, is presented to the House, if the Representatives do not "ratify"it, they are bad people and Tea Party segment are kooks who have control of the Republican Party.

Unfortunately, this sort of game works and the Republicans are astoundingly defective regarding educating the people or directing the conversation.  Probably, Republican leaders desire this result so they can control their vanishing empire.

Of course, the President admits he is not a natural born citizen and, therefore, cannot be a president under the Constitution, so maybe I am too reactionary to worry about these petty Constiutional things. After all, it is just a living document that conforms to whatever the people with guns announce.

You may have forgotten about the long form birth certificate recently release because after the forgery was discovered, Osama bin Laden was apparently discovered, murdered, and dumped into the ocean without a trace. (see picture above.) You remember that story, I am sure.

In that document, even though altered and void, Mr. Obama's father is identified as the Kenyian Obama has talked about.  Therefore, forgery or not, Mr. Obama's father was not an American citizen, so any concern over location of birth is irrelevant as  Obama IN NOT a "natural born citizen" by his own admission.

Then again, when citizens decide they do not have to follow any law, either, like pay the IRS its tribute, then the hand guns and Constitution appear, followed by the taxman.  This falls into the definitions of fascism, statism, oligarchy, feudalism, and communism, but not to worry, the new Harry Potter film is in 3D.  Whatever the name, it is the primal human instinct to dominate and steal that we in America thought we had subdued. I thought so.

It is obvious that the Marxist in all their new forms, supported by the not-really-clear liberals (the word liberal having been redefined to mean "leftist cult worshippers"), want the inevitable chaos and violence, so the state can step in and impose a martial law and control.  This is obvious to thinking people on the right, now,  but I doubt they can prevent violence which could grow beyond what the left thinks it can control. So, it is time to head off the problem, now.  It is time to contact representatives, then sign up to vote in primaries.

Here is the revenue provision of the Constitution.

Article 1

Section 7 - Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto

All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Coming: Harry Potter Goes To Washington

Here is the Gang of Six in 2011:

]Democrats Mark Warner (Virginia) Pop: 8,000,000 Dick Durbin (Illinois) Pop: 12,800,000 Kent Conrad (North Dakota)  675,000

[edit]Republicans Saxby Chambliss (Georgia) 9,600,000 Mike Crapo (Idaho) 1,600,000 Tom Coburn (Oklahoma)  3,700,000

Open Letter to Chris Gibson

Dear Chris, 

I am writing for myself and, for many like minded citizens, including those pushed to action last year as the Irregulars. I will publish this letter to my circle.  I apologise for its length, as the observation goes, I did not have time to write a short letter. 

At some point, all of us feel like we are preaching to choir and suspect this is pointless exercise.  It is not. The choir is listening and working. Both the choir and the preacher appreciate an occasional slight reenforcement; with that, we can steel ourselves for the never-ending resistance. 

This letter is intended to offer support for holding position to not raise the debt ceiling.  

As I write, there is a pervasive pressure being placed upon you and those who believe we are at the Rubicon.  We are and, if we cross into the unchartered territory, I fear there is no going back. These are no idle or romantic words. We are at the edge of the river looking into darkness. What Erebus awaits us?

There is more at stake, today, than petty political gamesmanship. Upon sober consideration, I submit, if we permit more borrowing, we do more than assure greater inflation in the future, we are removing ourselves from our way and standard of life.  The world I grew up in, the one my father and you defended, the one unsung millions have built with silent dignity and tired hands will be over. 

We are witnessing the continued and open usurpation of power, for one thing. The President, assuming arguendo that he is a naturally born citizen, and the Senate are negotiating a spending bill which, in no way legal, will result in the delegation of the power of the House to the President. This, by itself, affirms anyone's interest in moving to Costa Rica. 

If the weakened President can pressure the Republicans to spend more money, there will be no question there is no longer a balance of power.  Any concerns about looking bad to the electorate will be moot. I believe it was Calligula who installed his horse as a senator. Why not? No one complained.

The Republicans, at least the ones in the the U.S Senate that the media places in the game, seem to be playing on the wrong board. It is sad and terrifying to watch.  There is the notion of "one time shame on you," but by the time you get to five times, forget shame, the sap should be retired.

And what is this pressure? The IMF, foreign bankers, creditor nations, and Marxists say they won't like us so much if we do not raise the debt ceiling and spend ourselves into serfdom. This is political gambit, not a financial one.  We are a wounded, large animal and the scavengers feed us poison, saying it is medicine. Anyone with an understanding of money, understands that if we stop spending and taxing, we are a BETTER credit risk. This is common sense, but the pressure you feel does not permit this understanding. 

Recall, we had to pass TARP, etc. with great portend of fear. What would happen is General Motors goes bankrupt!  Well, it did, once the President had the money to control GM. Bankruptcy is a system of relief, not a punishement, and not to be feared. Reacting to fear, however, our government transferred the wealth of our children to union workers whose exorbitant salaries were saved.

Our in-house Marxists are not economically or strategically clever, they do not care what happens to our economy, do not attempt to balance anything, as long as they create chaos and feed their strong supporters. Following such simple guidlines requires no cleverness, just belief. This happens every day and I am sure you see it.  Before we entered the era of double-plus-good news-speak, this was called, oh, fascism, for one. For example, GE is now acting as Krupp did in NAZI Germany. Whatever the name, it is statism where the people are subjected to debt, regulation, law, and favored companies, so that an oligarchy can propser. Unlike earlier history, today we are giving away our freedom, rather than having it overtly stolen from us. 

Large companies work with the President, the workers not aware they are being used.  Unions work with him, most workers not aware of what they are doing. Government employees and teachers side with the state becuase it gives them money, but only a few are aware of what is happening. Segments of our culture are culled from the herd, reeducated and sent off to battle other segments. 

We are again at a point where international bankers and investors are worried that their game may now turn on them, so they have created another great fear, just as with TARP, so as to manipulate us into borrowing more. The leftists are happy to oblige them as the resulting chaos always results in more government. Yet, in the end, the fear of foreign entities not buying Treasury Bills is moot.   WE ARE BUYING OUR OWN DEBT WITH CREATED PAPER MONEY.  We are trying to get the right to sell bonds to the Fed! This is economic insanity.

Pimco, the American company which is the leading bond buyer in the world, has stopped buying our bils and dumped them last year. One wonders how we have survived this long!  

SITE: Article and interview with Bill Gross.

’We've said before that Greece was just the beginning as far as budget implosions go. By no means were we alone in this assessment, but now famous investor and Pimco CEO Bill Gross says the United States is actually in worse shape than Greece...

The Fed could literally be creating a feedback loop where the only institution interested in US debt is the Federal Reserve. But for them to buy more debt would just create more inflation and thereby make US debt even less desirable. Then what? An implosion in the US bond market would send interest rates through the roof and push the United States right back into a deep recession (and probably pull the world down with it)....

I believe it was Mark Levin who said:  do not fear August 2 for it is this generations Independence Day. He is right. We have to throw off the mantle of fear and pull ourselves into the fight.  August 2 should be a day of national celebration, not fear. By preserving the ceiling, we have called the bluff of the shadow men.

The first Independence Day was followed by years of anguish, but it, then, resulted in our great liberal republic as a model for man, a beautiful concept dying around us. Our Independence Day is less evident to most of us, now, but it is as powerful a turning point. Once again, we will have to stand together or hang separately.  

Not long in the future, the average person will come to understand what is happening this week; what we do will be understood - either way. It is for those with knowledge and authority to stand for those who do not yet see.  We are past considering reelection schemes, we are defending our way of life, our children.  Those who signed the Declaration of Independence understood they signed away their lives and sizeable fortunes, should things go against their beliefs. Where are our founders?

Rather than wring hands over a fear of "default," we should welcome the appearance of the enemy at the bridge, be it at Lexington or the Rubicon. It is time gird oneself and engage the enemy. Cowards deserve to be slaves. 

When you first sat and talked with the Irregulars at the coffee shop in Saratoga, I volunteered the notion that the President's actions are not subject to rational discourse and negotiation, that he is intentionally breaking our nation. You replied you did not think so, though your associates, economists at the Hoover Institution did.  

Please reconsider that we are correct. Once one accepts that we are not dealing across a table with a negotiating partner in good faith, but with a subversive, albeit vague, Marxist, the current bizarre actions resolve to crystal clarity. You are well versed in political history and making the leap to agreeing with this position only requires an admission: it can happen, here. That is the hard concept to admit, but we must.  Our Pearl Harbor has been bombed and we are wondering if the enemy does not like us.  

Permit a few more concepts.

1.  It's a ceiling, stupid:  Congress, in a lucid interval, voted to stop itself when it was on a drunken spree. Why not honor its correct characterization of its own weakness and vapidness? Why set a ceiling that has no meaning?

2.  Mr. Obama was correct when he voted as a Senator against the piercing of a debt ceiling: it is a sign of the failure of leadership. 

3.  The unfettered market has a mechanism to deal with the profligate. As risk goes up, so does the interest rate which results in a reduction ofborrowing and spending. Why are we, as a nation, different? The fact that we MAY have a temporary increase in interest rates should be welcomed. Grown ups see beyond immediate gratification. We should welcome the power of the market place we defend. Otherwise, we shrink back in fear and selfishness and find ourselves as serfs. This is the other side of the Rubicon.  One way we are different as a nation, rather than a framily, is we can drug ourselves into a stupor with the illusion of wealth found in paper.

4.  There is talk of the U. S. losing its "full faith and credit" by not borrowing more money to pay international bankers and investors.  This is gibberish and the adoption of an intimidating phrase that is wholly irrelevant. It is used in the Constitution to admonish the various  states to honor the laws of other states. It has nothing to do with Keynesian economics.  At the heart of the concern is that the United States of America had better bow as it shuffles into the bank, hat in hand.

5.  We will not go bankrupt, but if we have to reset our economy, this will be similar to a reorganization which, I repeat, is a relief, not a punishment.  What, if we go through a few months of disruption and agitprop, if, at the same time, we declare our independence from those who wish us ill? It is so simple to just act upon our beliefs. You can see various states resetting, now. They cannot print money so they have to.  

6.  The House is responsible for our spending, as I am sure you and colleagues understand. It is time for the House to stand apart from shadow games being played and insist upon a proper deference to the Constitution.  Right now, it is being played as a fool as the President offers no budget,  mocks the Constitution, negotiates with the Senate, and gleefully awaits a capitulation or a "default," which he will assure by failing to make payments that could be made. 

The way to position the argument, today, is to call August 2 our Independence Day, a day we decide to become solvent and free of foreign enemies. If our voters are too ignorant to understand what is at issue, it is the fault of those who represent them. 

We are losing our country through neglect.  Our world looks to end not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Thank you for your time and continued service.

Gene

Eugene J. Cunningham, MA, JD

Keep and Share: The Democtratic Fiscal Record

Greg sent in an article from ZeroHedge.com and I have to reprint it here.  Any normal person would not need any further reason to fill the basement with peanut butter and coffee.

The problem remains, how do you reach the dead-men-walking who do not care about anything other than taxing the rich, making sure companies do not earn profits, and "playing the system."  Please let me know how we can do this before we turn into England and France.  (No, Greece and Spain.)

This is a real problem as our voters are socialists who don't care about no stinkin' budget, old-school Americans who are in a panic, and the deciding vote: zombies.  What to do?

We  have to reach some of the zombies.  You can't just laugh at them, anymore; nor can you kill them, being Zombies and all.

In the article, click on the "one simple chart" to see the projected (redefined) unemployment rate with and without the recovery plan along with the real numbers.  Fanastyland.

Also of note, over a year ago, Mr. Obama commented on one of the recovery bills that he signed, by signing he saved 1,000,000 jobs.  Imagine where we would be if he didn't save them?

Finally, if you knew you had no more money, say A YEAR before you ran out, would you do ANYTHING to alter your life or just walk around and say you are too big to fail?  Playing a political game to force a breach of our debt ceiling is traitorous, but we already knew that.  This is by people who have not even attempted to propose a budget since April,  2009.


Who wants to pierce the debt ceiling? Big banks, brokerage houses, Goldman Sachs, the IMF, and the Fed, Geithner, and Obama.  You see, the big guys want to make more money and subject the nation to more control. The threat, which is real, is our interest rate will go up for a time (until we cut the credit cards up) as we may even be downgraded by Moody's etc.  This is true and our new interest payment would dwarf any proposed savings now.

So, the answer, for the insane, is to borrow more money.  In that way, you see, our bankers will like us.  Our brilliant tutors in Europe would be pleased.

It remains my contention that this insane posture is intended and the more we are crushed by debt, the better.  There are forces at work Americans cannot even fathom exist.

As for my part, I don't consider us a AAA investment.  I like silver and coffee. So what, if we drop to AA?  Eventually, the market makes any profligate pay attention - or commit suicide. That is where we are.

ZeroHedge.com

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A Brief History Of Obama's Fiscal Record

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/16/2011 16:07 -0400

After working hard to compile a list of Obama's rather questionable record of fiscal promises and actual executions, the gist of which is represented best by the violent clash between myth and realty in Christina Romer's "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan" whose epic failure is defined by one simple chart, we were disappointed to learn that Paul Ryan had already done this. And leaving Paul Ryan's politics aside, the facts do speak themselves. They speak even louder when one considers the din raised by the same president who back in 2006 said: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." Indeed they do president Obama. Indeed they do. So without further ado...

A brief history of President Obama's fiscal record.

Despite newfound concern with the debt overhang stifling economic growth, President Obama’s record falls far short of his rhetoric.  Let’s review the decisions made by President Obama and Congressional Democrats over the past couple of years, and the disappointing results of their policy choices:

January 20, 2009
President Obama sworn into office

• President tells the American people in his Inaugural Address: “Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

• Debt Held By Public = $6.31 trillion

February 17, 2009
President Signs into Law the Spending Stimulus

• The stimulus adds $821 billion in new spending according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

• The White House promises this infusion of spending and borrowing would keep unemployment rate below 8%.  As millions of Americans are painfully aware, that promise was broken.

• Debt Held by Public = $6.48 trillion

February 26, 2009
President Issues FY2010 Budget

• The President’s budget adds $2.7 trillion in new debt in FY2010 and imposes $1.4 trillion in new taxes.

• Debt Held by Public = $6.58 trillion

March 11, 2009
President Signs FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act

• The massive spending bill includes 8,696 earmarks at a cost of $11 billion.

• The spending bill adds $19 billion in new spending above the baseline – an 8.6% spending increase.

• Debt Held by Public = $6.66 trillion

April 29, 2009
Congressional Democrats Pass FY2010 Budget

• The Congressional Democrats’ budget calls for a $2 trillion debt increase in 2010, and another 8.9% increase in non-defense discretionary spending.

• The reconciliation process is abused to later pave the way for health care overhaul to be jammed into law.

• Of note: this is the last time Congressional Democrats will bother budgeting.

• Debt Held by Public = $6.85 trillion

February 2, 2010
President Issues FY2011 Budget

• The President’s budget more than doubles the debt; pushes the FY2011 deficit to a new record of $1.6 trillion; drives spending to a new record of $3.8 trillion in fiscal year 2011; and raises taxes by more than $2 trillion through 2020, under the administration’s own estimates.

• Debt Held by Public = $7.85 trillion

March 23, 2010
President Signs Health-Care Overhaul Into Law

• The massive new law adds $1.4 trillion in new spending over the next decade, and over $2.5 trillion once the law is fully implemented.

• Despite sluggish economic growth and high unemployment, the law imposes over $500 billion in new tax hikes.  CBO Director Elmendorf would later testify that the law would reduce employment by roughly half a percent – a reduction of approximately 800,000 jobs.

• Debt Held by Public = $8.18 trillion

April 15, 2010 
Congressional Democrats Decide Not to Do a Budget for FY2011 

• The 1974 Budget Act requires Congress to pass a budget each year by April 15.

• In an unprecedented budget failure, House Democrats not only failed to pass a budget – they opted to not even propose a budget.

• Debt Held by Public = $8.39 trillion

July 21, 2010
President Signs Financial Regulatory Overhaul Into Law

• In addition to heightened regulatory uncertainty, the massive new law adds $10.2 billion in new spending.

• Debt Held by Public = $8.69 trillion

February 14, 2011
President Issues FY2012 Budget

• The President’s budget yet again calls for the doubling of the debt in five years, and tripling the debt in ten years.

• The President’s budget spends $47 trillion over the next decade, imposes over $1 trillion in new tax hikes, and fails to address the drivers of the debt.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.45 trillion

April 13, 2011
President Delivers Speech on Deficit Reduction

• The President appears to abandon his own budget by offering a ‘framework’ that calls for additional tax increases, defense spending cuts, and Medicare price controls – yet lacks sufficient detail to back-up claims of deficit reduction.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.65 trillion

April 15, 2011
House Passes FY2012 Budget Resolution

• The House-passed budget cuts $6.2 trillion in government spending over the next decade, saves Medicare, strengthens the social safety net, lifts the crushing burden of debt, and spurs economic growth and job creation.

• Senate Democrats fail to meet their legal requirement to pass a budget by April 15.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.68 trillion

April 18, 2011
S&P Issues Credit Warning on U.S. Debt

• The rating agency sets off the latest alarm bells, warning of lawmakers of unsustainable fiscal course.

• President Obama has still not proposed a credible budget; Senate Democrats have still not proposed any budget.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.68 trillion

May 13, 2011
Medicare and Social Security Trustees Issue Warning of Looming Insolvency

• According to the programs’ own trustees, the unsustainable future of Medicare and Social Security threatens the health and retirement security of America’s seniors.

• President Obama and Congressional Democrats continue to engage in a partisan campaign to attack efforts to save and strengthen these critical programs – while offering no serious solutions of their own.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.67 trillion

May 25, 2011
Senate Unanimously Rejects President’s FY2012 Budget; Vote is 97-0

• While the President’s plan to accelerate our nation toward bankruptcy is unanimously rejected, the stunt on the Senate floor reveals the bankruptcy of Senate Democrats’ ideas.

• Senate Democrats have still not proposed any budget.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.72 trillion

June 23, 2011
CBO Director Further Discredits President’s Fiscal Record

• In testimony before the House Budget Committee, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf responds to questions on the President’s ‘Framework’: “We don’t estimate speeches.  We need much more specificity than was provided in that speech for us to do our analysis.”

• Debt Held by Public = $9.74 trillion

July 8, 2011
Unemployment Hits 9.2%; Day 800 Since Senate Democrats Last Passed A Budget

• A devastating jobs report that shows the unemployment rate at 9.2% coincides with the 800^th day since Senate Democrats last thought the federal government needed a budget.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.75 trillion

July 11, 2011
Senator Conrad Gives Budget Speech on Senate Floor

• On Day 803 since the Senate last passed a budget, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad takes to the Senate floor to deliver a speech about the Senate Democrats’ non-existent budget resolution.

• Senator Conrad makes the case for imposing over $2 trillion in new taxes, but provides no actual budget resolution and no credible details.

• Debt held by Public = $9.75 trillion

July 15, 2011
President Holds Press Conference: “We’re Running Out of Time” to Deal with Debt

• President Obama tells reporters: “I've got reams of paper and printouts and spreadsheets on my desk, and so we know how we can create a package that solves the deficits and debt for a significant period of time.  But in order to do that, we got to get started now.”

• The American people have still not seen any “paper” or “printouts” of what specific spending cuts the President supports.  The American people have still not seen any “spreadsheets” from the White House to corroborate their claims of having offered a deficit reduction plan.

• While it’s long past time for Washington “to get started now” on tackling our debt problems, President Obama has still not proposed a credible budget, and Senate Democrats have still not proposed any budget.

• Debt Held by Public = $9.75 trillion

Blame the teleprompter?

4.7