Tag Archives: Election/Politicians

Obama: Bailout needed to avert catastrophe

“‘To the Democrats and Republicans who have opposed this plan, I say this: step up to the plate. Do what’s right for the country, because the time to act is now,’ Obama told rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Obama plans to fly back to Washington later to cast a vote in favor of the plan in the Senate. ‘It is clear that this is what we must do right now to prevent a crisis from turning into a catastrophe,’ he said.” (from ynetnews.com)

This is heartbreaking! How can he say this when so many economists say the plan makes no sense? When the Treasury admitted to pulling the $700billion figure out of thin air? When the people who predicted this crisis years ago are saying it won’t work? When the people being bailed out are the ones whose greed and irresponsibility caused this mess? When there is so much history reflecting exactly what is happening today?


Andrew Jackson to fear-mongering Central Bankers:

“The bold effort the present (central) bank had made to control the government … are but premonitions of the fate that await the American people should they be deluded into a perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like it.”

“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves.'”

“There are no necessary evils in government, the Treasury to you gentlemen is closed!”

McBama backs Bailout

Surprise, surprise.

“US presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have broadly welcomed an outline multi-billion dollar plan to help shore up the US financial system.” (Read more from news.bbc.co.uk)

“Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.” -Ron Paul

—–

Presidential Candidates in favor of the bailout:
Barack Obama (Republicrat)
John McCain (Republicrat)

Presidential Candidates against the bailout:
Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party)
Cynthia McKinney (Green Party)
Ralph Nader (Independent)
Bob Barr (Libertarian Party)

Joe Biden – A Profile in Cowardice

“In Friday’s presidential debate on foreign policy (assuming the show still goes on), we can be sure that Barack Obama will hit John McCain hard for supporting what Obama has called a ‘dumb war’ in Iraq. But in doing so, Obama has at least one major handicap to overcome: his running mate.

In October 2002, Sen. Biden voted to authorize the Iraq war. ‘I made a mistake,’ he now says – he had ‘vastly underestimated’ how incompetent the Bush administration would be in prosecuting the war.

So has Biden changed his position on Iraq? Not really. In October 2002, when the congressional vote was held, Biden, like most members of Congress, was in favor of avoiding accountability and punting the question of war or peace to the president. And Biden remains firmly in favor of avoiding accountability for Iraq today. That tells us something about Joe Biden’s judgment and integrity. More importantly, it tells us a lot about the health of Congress as a political institution, and about the erosion of Congress’s power to declare war.” (Read more from the Cato Institute)

McBama: More Regulation Needed to Solve Financial Crisis

“Obama says the ongoing crisis is the result of ‘[e]ight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans’; the obvious solution is more regulations.

McCain, on the other hand, says the problem is ‘the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington,’ for which he promises reform, not abolition. Furthermore, he wants to ‘bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street,’ which can only mean additional regulations.

Once again an election promises to offer an echo, not a choice.” (Read more from lewrockwell.com)

Neither candidate demonstrates the courage and integrity to bring up the money-printing Fed’s role in creating artificial bubbles which lead to busts, or the obscene quantities of money spent on our wars of choice.

Four Issues you won’t hear about from McBama and the Republicrats

“The Republican/Democrat duopoly has, for far too long, ignored the most important issues facing our nation. However, alternate candidates Chuck Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader agree with Ron Paul on four key principles central to the health of our nation. These principles should be key in the considerations of every voter this November and in every election.

We Agree

Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with removal of all our soldiers from the region. We must initiate the return of our soldiers from around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe and the entire Middle East. We must cease the war propaganda, threats of a blockade and plans for attacks on Iran, nor should we re-ignite the cold war with Russia over Georgia. We must be willing to talk to all countries and offer friendship and trade and travel to all who are willing. We must take off the table the threat of a nuclear first strike against all nations.

Privacy: We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. We must reject the notion and practice of torture, eliminations of habeas corpus, secret tribunals, and secret prisons. We must deny immunity for corporations that spy willingly on the people for the benefit of the government. We must reject the unitary presidency, the illegal use of signing statements and excessive use of executive orders.

The National Debt: We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt. The burden of debt placed on the next generation is unjust and already threatening our economy and the value of our dollar. We must pay our bills as we go along and not unfairly place this burden on a future generation.

The Federal Reserve: We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationships with the banking, corporate, and other financial institutions. The arbitrary power to create money and credit out of thin air behind closed doors for the benefit of commercial interests must be ended. There should be no taxpayer bailouts of corporations and no corporate subsidies. Corporations should be aggressively prosecuted for their crimes and frauds.”

(More from campaignforliberty.com)

Ron Paul’s Statement to the National Press Club regarding our two-party system

The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.
Carroll Quigley – Author of Tragedy & Hope

Ron Paul’s Statement:

“The coverage of the presidential election is designed to be a grand distraction. This is not new, but this year, it’s more so than ever.

Pretending that a true difference exists between the two major candidates is a charade of great proportion. Many who help to perpetuate this myth are frequently unaware of what they are doing and believe that significant differences actually do exist. Indeed, on small points there is the appearance of a difference. The real issues, however, are buried in a barrage of miscellaneous nonsense and endless pontifications by robotic pundits hired to perpetuate the myth of a campaign of substance.

The truth is that our two-party system offers no real choice. The real goal of the campaign is to distract people from considering the real issues.

Influential forces, the media, the government, the privileged corporations and moneyed interests see to it that both party’s candidates are acceptable, regardless of the outcome, since they will still be in charge. It’s been that way for a long time. George Wallace was not the first to recognize that there’s “not a dime’s worth of difference” between the two parties. There is, though, a difference between the two major candidates and the candidates on third-party tickets and those running as independents.

The two parties and their candidates have no real disagreements on foreign policy, monetary policy, privacy issues, or the welfare state. They both are willing to abuse the Rule of Law and ignore constitutional restraint on Executive Powers. Neither major party champions free markets and private-property ownership.

Those candidates who represent actual change or disagreement with the status quo are held in check by the two major parties in power, making it very difficult to compete in the pretend democratic process. This is done by making it difficult for third-party candidates to get on the ballots, enter into the debates, raise money, avoid being marginalized, or get fair or actual coverage. A rare celebrity or a wealthy individual can, to a degree, overcome these difficulties.

The system we have today allows a President to be elected by as little as 32% of the American people, with half of those merely voting for the “lesser of two evils”. Therefore, as little as 16% actually vote for a president. No wonder when things go wrong, anger explodes. A recent poll shows that 60% of the American people are not happy with the two major candidates this year.

This system is driven by the conviction that only a major party candidate can win. Voters become convinced that any other vote is a “wasted” vote. It’s time for that conclusion to be challenged and to recognize that the only way not to waste one’s vote is to reject the two establishment candidates and join the majority, once called silent, and allow the voices of the people to be heard.

We cannot expect withdrawal of troops from Iraq or the Middle East with either of the two major candidates. Expect continued involvement in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Georgia. Neither hints of a non-interventionist foreign policy. Do not expect to hear the rejection of the policy of supporting the American world empire. There will be no emphasis in protecting privacy and civil liberties and the constant surveillance of the American people. Do not expect any serious attempt to curtail the rapidly expanding national debt. And certainly, there will be no hint of addressing the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationship with big banks and international corporations and the politicians.

There is only one way that these issues can get the attention they deserve: the silent majority must become the vocal majority.

This message can be sent to our leaders by not participating in the Great Distraction—the quadrennial campaign and election of an American President without a choice. Just think of how much of an edge a Vice President has in this process, and he or she is picked by a single person—the party’s nominee. This was never intended by the Constitution.

Since a principled non-voter sends a message, we must count them and recognize the message they are sending as well. The non-voters need to hold their own “election” by starting a “League of Non-voters” and explain their principled reasons for opting out of this charade of the presidential elective process. They just might get a bigger membership than anyone would guess.

Write-in votes should not be discouraged, but the electoral officials must be held accountable and make sure the votes are counted. But one must not be naïve and believe that under today’s circumstances one has a chance of accomplishing much by a write-in campaign.

The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two-party system, which in reality is a one-party system with no possible chance for the changes to occur which are necessary to solve our economic and foreign policy problems. This can be accomplished by voting for one of the non-establishment principled candidates—Baldwin, Barr, McKinney, Nader, and possibly others. (listed alphabetically)

Yes, these individuals do have strong philosophic disagreements on various issues, but they all stand for challenging the status quo—those special interest who control our federal government. And because of this, on the big issues of war, civil liberties, deficits, and the Federal Reserve they have much in common. People will waste their vote in voting for the lesser of two evils. That can’t be stopped overnight, but for us to have an impact we must maximize the total votes of those rejecting the two major candidates.

For me, though, my advice—for what it’s worth—is to vote! Reject the two candidates who demand perpetuation of the status quo and pick one of the alternatives that you have the greatest affinity to, based on the other issues.

A huge vote for those running on principle will be a lot more valuable by sending a message that we’ve had enough and want real change than wasting one’s vote on a supposed lesser of two evils.”

(More from campaignforliberty.com)

McCain Campaign Plans To Keep Palin Away From The Press

“Yesterday, McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace dismissed the fact that Gov. Sarah Palin has yet to take any questions from the press. ‘So what?’ she scoffed. Today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, campaign strategist Rick Davis suggested Palin might never sit down for an interview if, he said, it’s ‘in our best interest’ to keep her away from the media.” (Read more from thinkprogress.org)

It is definitely in the best interest of the campaign to keep Palin away from the press and away from the people – McCain too.

The Republican National Convention, Ron Paul & Fake Soldiers

-“Sept. 3, 2008 | MINNEAPOLIS — If you were in the Twin Cities on Tuesday, you could be forgiven for thinking that Republicans had to come to Minnesota to nominate Ron Paul instead of John McCain. At St. Paul’s Xcel Center, where the real Republican convention is being held, a substantial number of seats remained empty. Next door in Minneapolis, however, a wildly enthusiastic crowd came close to filling the Target Center, capacity 10,000, where the Paul-ist faithful had gathered for their own quasi-convention to pay tribute to the Texas congressman.” (Read more from Salon.com This article goes on to smear Ron Paul and his supporters (me). The associations and distortions are consistent with how the media mobilized to destroy his campaign earlier this year.)

-At RNC, secret-service-type people confiscate Ron Paul books, buttons & DVDs, shadow Ron Paul supporters, and threaten evicting them if they leave their seats. (Read more from dailynewscaster.com)

-Fake Soldiers Used In RNC Video. (Read more from cbsnews.com)

Palin Refuses to Testify

Holy smokes! That was fast.

“It didn’t take long. We’ve already brought you news of the official investigation into Gov. Palin’s firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Steve Branchflower, the lead investigator, began trying to arrange a deposition of the governor days before her veep selection. And despite claiming executive privilege to shield requested emails, up until that point Palin had promised full cooperation with the probe.” (Read more for talkingpointsmemo.com)

VPs both kiss AIPAC Ass

Sarah Palin Appearances Cancelled; Meets With AIPAC

Biden: Israel will be more protected with Obama

Okay, let’s say there are two countries which border one another, and one keeps getting smaller because its land is being confiscated by the other, should we be talking about the security of the country that’s shrinking or the one that’s growing? Should we be talking about the right to exist of the country that’s expanding at the expense of its neighbor, or about the rights of the one victimized?

Meanwhile: Israeli navy arrests three Palestinian fishermen in Gaza waters