Coming soon: Mandatory National Service in the U.S.S.A.

“The House passed a bill yesterday which includes disturbing language indicating young people will be forced to undertake mandatory national service programs as fears about President Barack Obama’s promised ‘civilian national security force’ intensify.

The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act, was passed yesterday by a 321-105 margin and now goes to the Senate.

Under section 6104 of the bill, entitled ‘Duties,’ in subsection B6, the legislation states that a commission will be set up to investigate, ‘Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.’

Section 120 of the bill also discusses the ‘Youth Engagement Zone Program’ and states that ‘service learning’ will be ‘a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.'” (Read more from infowars.com)

Also, see Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) thoughtful critique of bill. He addresses chartiy, America, Civil Society, the Constitution, the budget, the the tendency toward misdirected altruism by the government.

Political Posturing Over AIG

“I recently received an e-mail from Sen. Tom Harkin expressing outrage over the AIG bonuses and vowing to ‘pass legislation that completely taxes those bonuses away’ and ‘send a message to AIG and other companies who received bailout money.’

While I think the anger is well-founded, I fear it misses the point.

Government should never have entered the business of giving our money to failing companies. The line between government and private enterprise is now perverted. Because of the bailouts, politicians are now posturing by interfering in businesses they know little about, and businessmen (bankers in this case) now have more reason than ever to lobby and influence politics.

The whole process is outrageous. Bad companies should simply go bankrupt. There are plenty of banks here in the Midwest that have been responsible. If we lived in a free society, they would find themselves in a position to buy assets from the hugely irresponsible and incompetent New York banks. Instead, money is taken from the competent and given to the incompetent.

At the same time, politicians are pretending to have stuck it to the man. Scolding AIG over several hundred million in bonuses after handing them several hundred billion is ridiculous.

If Congress wants to scrutinize something, they should scrutinize the Federal Reserve. Instead of worrying about AIG’s millions, they should provide transparency to the Fed’s trillions.” (from press-citizen.com)

Chuck Norris on the second American Revolution

“The call by some right wing leaders for rebellion and for the military to refuse the commander in chief’s orders is joined by Chuck Norris who claims that thousands of right wing cell groups have organized and are ready for a second American Revolution. During an appearance on the Glen Beck radio show he promised that if things get any worse from his point of view he may ‘run for president of Texas.’ The martial artist/actor/activist claims that Texas was never formally a part of the United States in the first place and that if rebellion is to come through secession Texas would lead the way.” (Read more from examiner.com)

Peter Schiff at the 2009 Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture

This hour-long video is well worth the time. My favorite part comes at 30:00 when Peter Schiff explains what I believe to be the most crucial lesson from this crisis: it is not a failure of capitalism, but a failure of government interference. The only institutions which needed regulation, are the ones the government created: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Federal Reserve. At about 60:00, he also repeats what my liberal friends hate to hear, that Obama’s policies are very much like Bush’s.

Interestingly and, I think, appropriately, there is a grassroots movement to convince Peter Schiff to run for Senate in 2010: Peter Schiff for Senate (CT)

Eliot Spitzer on Banking

Disgraced former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer published this article on Federal protection of the banking sector. Shortly thereafter, Patriot Act laws were used to spy on his finances which ultimately exposed his penchant for prostitutes.

“Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government’s actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.” (Read more from washingtonpost.com)

Like I always say, government is not our protector against monopolistic companies, they are the creator and enforcer of monopolies.

The $8.5 Trillion Recovery

With recoveries like these, who needs recessions?

This several months old, from Nov 2008, but it’s important to keep the figure in mind: $8.5 trillion. Much was made of the $800 billion which congress actually voted on, but most of the $8.5 trillion came from the super-secretive and largely unaccountable Federal Reserve.

Let’s not allow ourselves to be surprised when the dollar very quickly and very painfully loses its value.

“The federal government committed an additional $800 billion to two new loan programs on Tuesday, bringing its cumulative commitment to financial rescue initiatives to a staggering $8.5 trillion, according to Bloomberg News. That sum represents almost 60 percent of the nation’s estimated gross domestic product.

Given the unprecedented size and complexity of these programs and the fact that many have never been tried before, it’s impossible to predict how much they will cost taxpayers. The final cost won’t be known for many years. . . .

Most of the money, about $5.5 trillion, comes from the Federal Reserve, which as an independent entity does not need congressional approval to lend money to banks or, in “unusual and exigent circumstances,” to other financial institutions.” (Read more from sfgate.com)

Feds Raid Food Cooperative

Last December, the Feds raided a food cooperative in Ohio. There is widespread fear that the tyrants and useful idiots in D.C. are seeking to “protect” us by gaining a stranglehold over our food supply.

“The Stowers family has run a very large, well-known food cooperative called Manna Storehouse on the western side of the greater Cleveland area for many years.There were agents from the Department of Agriculture present, one of them identified as Bill Lesho. The search warrant is reportedly supicious-looking. Agents began rifling through all of the family’s possessions, a task that lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of food for the coming year. All of their computers, and all of their cell phones were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for this extreme violation of Constitutional rights.” (Read more from thebovine.wordpress.com)

“The Stowers (Manna Storehouse) vs. ODA Director Boggs. This story has been reported in many places, including the Journal, but I have not seen much in the newspapers. It’s as if the swat-like team stopped in for a visit to investigate. There is much more to this story.

Buckeye Institute President David Hansen and 1851 Center for Constitutional Law Director Maurice Thompson discuss Stowers v. Boggs. This week the Buckeye Institute took legal action against the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) for an unlawful raid on the Stowers’ home and co-op, and subsequent seizure of their personal property. The institute believes ODA violated the Stowers’ constitutional rights.” (Read more from wholefoodusa.wordpress.com)

I am terrified to the depth of my soul of government control over the food supply.

Ron Paul debates actor Stephen Baldwin over Drug War

There was no federal laws against Marijuana until 1937. I’m beginning to think our “greatest generation” was only greatest from the point of view of tyranny. See When the United States CONFISCATED GOLD FROM PRIVATE CITIZENS.

Ron Paul: “[The drug cartels] lobby to keep these laws in place because they can’t exist without them.”

See also: Mexican drug lord makes Forbes’ billionaire list

AIG Bonus Bombshell Raises New Questions About Goldman Sachs

“Decisions made during the final months of the Bush administration created an environment in which the most politically connected investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, not only flourished, but saw their competitors laid waste, with firms like Lehman in bankruptcy, and others, like Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, forced to merge in desperate hope of surviving.” (Read more from huffingtonpost.com)

Goldman Sachs Wins Big In Secret Bailout Via AIG

In terms of power and influence, no other bank seems to come close to Goldman Sachs. Their name comes up a lot as you travel down the rabbit hole of government secrecy.

“In case you were wondering where on earth all that money went that you shoveled into the black hole known as AIG, we now have a pretty good idea.

* $13 billion of it went to Goldman Sachs
* $12 billion went to Soc Gen
* $12 billion went to Deutsche Bank
* $9 billion went to Barclays
* $7 billion went to Merrill Lynch
* $5 billion went to Bank of America

And so on.

All these firms did business with AIG voluntarily. All these firms knew (or should have known) the risks of doing business with an unregulated firm in an unregulated part of the market. All these firms were willing to take the risk that AIG wouldn’t be able to make good on its commitments.” (Read more from businessinsider.com)