The Wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower

PREVENTIVE WAR
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing."

MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of The United States

Origins of the Federal Reserve Bank

The Fed is the bastard son of the banks that raped the Federal government as the idiot President Woodrow Wilson stood by and applauded.
It answers to Mom and Dad, but only when it wants to.

Let The Banks Regulate Themselves – And Print Their Own Money

Last Friday, George Dubya Bush announced a new system to regulate the banking industry. The new system is designed to regulate more than commercial banks. It would include the regulation of Savings and Loans, Investment Banks, Mutual Funds and even Insurance Companies. The announcement was made with a twenty two page report that is a summary of a much longer, very complex document. The announcement seemed to be in response to the latest bailout by the Fed: this time of Bear Stearns.

However the document's complexity indicates that it's confection could not possibly have been prepared in a week or two.This plan has been cooked up for some time now. The Bush White House has simply been waiting for an auspicious moment to present it. In fact this all feels very similar to what happened after 911. The Project for a New American Century, staffed by Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz had plans ready to justify and launch an attack on Saddam Hussein's Iraq as far back as 1998. They were just waiting for an auspicious moment to present those plans. Well, it looks like the Bear Stearns meltdown, as part of the larger financial crisis, is the 911 that Paulson, Bush and Bernanke have been waiting for.

So what is the plan? It is to abrogate the regulatory responsibilities over all financial activity in the United States to the Federal Reserve Bank. The Fed would control the stock markets, both investment and commercial banking, insurance companies and other financial institutions. These companies would no longer be controlled by the SEC, the Treasury Dept, etc. All their regulated activities would be overseen by the Fed.

But the Fed is not part of the government. The Federal Reserve Bank is owned by the RegionalReserve Banks which are owned by large American commercial banks. The government's only input into the management of the Fed is through the appointment of the members of the Board. But the government cannot remove members of the Board, so the influence that our elected representatives have over the Fed Board and it's Chairman is only through reasonable argument. The Fed Chairman is required to make a periodic presentation to Congress, but they cannot force him to do anything that he doesn't wish to do. Neither the President or his Secretary of the Treasury can dictate policy to the Fed Chairman. He is the completely autonomous director of a non governmental organization.

The Fed was established by bankers in 1913 as a Central Bank in order to coin money. Laws have been passed that abrogate the Constitutional responsibility to coin money from the Congress to the Fed. Those laws are of questionable Constitutional legality, but they have been accepted for 95 years and will not be challenged now. The Fed will continue to coin money and will do so to try to stabilize the economy and create conditions for the growth of capital. They are now creating money to bail out the large mortgage banks and investment banks.The Chairman of the Fed confers with the President and the Secretary of the Treasury as a matter of courtesy before doing these things, but it is only courtesy, he need not pay them any heed

The Fed Chairman is more liable to listen to the owners of the institution that he manages: the commercial bankers. So the Fed is really representing bankers. Now think for a moment: Is it a good idea to put the banks in charge of overseeing the banks at the same time that the banks have the power to print money to bail out the banks? Is that how things should by done in a representative government? If we decide that regulation of financial institutions is a good idea, and that seems to be the consensus, then in a country with a government established for the people and by the people, shouldn't the people ultimately control how that regulation is conducted?

Bush and Paulson say no, the people should have nothing to say.

Unbelievable!

Chuck Hagel Tells Bush That War Should Not Be A Political Issue

Here you see a great American, fed up with the neocon Republican Party. God bless you Chuck Hagel.

Misunderstandings About the Financial Crisis

I have heard many people say that this economic crisis is not the banks' fault; that no one forced unqualified borrowers to take loans that they couldn’t afford.

Well, the banks are in fact responsible. Under intense pressure from the bankers' lobbyists the Congress deregulated Real Estate and banking at the beginning of the Bush Presidency. The banks changed the laws with the intention of loaning money to people, many of who would never be able to afford the payments on their mortgages. The banks and broherage houses did this in order to heat up the Real Estate market. It worked; great fortunes were made in a short period of time by speculating in the housing market. The banks wrote billions of dollars in loans with variable interest rates that were much higher than the interest that they could charge to a truly qualified buyer. Then the banks bundled the mortgages and sold them as secured equities to investors around the world. The banks were going to make a fortune too, although this wild ride could not work forever. The bubble had to burst.

The domestic Real Estate markets hit the wall and the banks are now hitting the same wall. Given the expertise in the American banking industry we must assume that they had evaluated the risk of a Real Estate market collapse, but they went ahead anyway. So considering the manpower that banks employ in risk assesment, we can assume that the financial institutions went into this on purpose with their eyes open. But, then housing prices fell, and some banks found that they didn't have enough liquidity to maintain solvency in the face of so many foreclosures. Why would they do that? There seem to me to be two possibilities:

1.- The millionaire bankers are really stupid.
2.- The millionaire bankers' lobbyists assured them that they had the votes to bail out the banks when the bubble burst at the expense of today's and tomorrow's taxpayers.

Which of those two looks more likely to you?

Given the fact that the Fed just accepted 200 billion dollars of worthless paper as collateral from troubled brokerage houses and banks in order to inject some cash into the system and given that the Fed is ready with 200 billion more, it looks like answer #2 is the winner.

So we aren’t going to have socialized medicine, but we do have socialized banking. The profits go to extremely rich men that don’t pay taxes, in fact as we see in the cases of Bear Stearns and Countrywide Financial the millionaires were giving themselves BILLIONS in bonuses weeks before their companies crashed. And now the losses are going to be paid by you and the rest of the taxpayers. This all happens while politicians tell us that the foreclosed homeowners should not be bailed out, that they should be responsible for their mistakes.

I have been told that unless I am an economist or a banker I should not opine on these matters because a great deal of specialized education is needed before a person can understand the forces at play. Greenspan and Bernanke know all, Ferrell should shut up and listen the great economists.

Why is it, that during the last year, in every economic or financial discussion in which I have participated on-line there is always someone who takes the position that only economists should voice opinions in this matter. People say the following about Mr. Greenspan "I'm sure he has a much deeper understanding of this than you do. Does anything qualify your opinion, like a comparable policy-making position or multiple degrees in economics, or you're just parroting some nutjob´s talking points?"

The normal neocon response to anyone opining about economics is that Bernanke, Paulson, Greenspan etc. know more than you, so shut up. But that is not a good argument given the very bad economic situation that we are facing today. It is clear that uncontrolled lending to unqualified borrowers is one of the root causes of this disaster. The seeds of the disaster were sown on Greenspan’s watch. He was asked a number of times (by people with less degrees than he possesses) if he wasn’t concerned that:

1. - The housing market had overheated thanks to sub-prime lending and had formed a bubble? - Greenspan always pooh-poohed the questioner. "There is no bubble" As we can see he was wrong. Really, terribly wrong
2. - Our trade deficit wasn’t going to cause inflation? - No, he said, "it will just increase foreign investment. It doesn’t matter where goods are made, everything benefits America" Wrong again! Really, terribly wrong
3. - Our Federal budget deficit isn’t going to produce inflation and or recession? - He answered "No, don’t worry, market growth will take care of everything" Wrong again! Really, terribly wrong.


He is so incredibly smart that he sent us into financial meltdown, and when he finally saw it coming he slid out of the Fed and handed the bag of flaming crap to Paul Bernanke.

Economists, like many specialists often lose sight of the forest as they concentrate on the trees. Sometimes those of us who look at the broader reality that we all live in have a great deal more wisdom.

Ron Paul's comments on Iraq in 1998

Click on the title above to read Ron Paul's debate in the Congress about war in Iraq and about how we created Osama bin Laden. Take into consideration that he said all of this ten years ago!

He was right on every point and he still is, but the country continues to sing on cue and follow the directions of the military industrial complex. Please click on the title and read the debate transcript.

El Cuento de los Dos Cerebros

Mark Gungor and Chris in Texas presenting Laugh Your Way in Spanish

Mark Gungor - The Tale of To Brains

This is my Boss. A great teacher and the funniest man that I know.

The Game Is Rigged - Stock Market Rise Is Artificial

International stock markets fell up to 6 percent on Monday the 21st on fears of American inflation and an American recession. When the US market opened on Tuesday the market plummeted and then recovered, finally losing 130 points on the day. On Monday the Fed announced a giant bailout by lowering the interest rates 3/4 of a percent. On Tuesday the President announced a tax rebate give away to further help stave off the looming recession. Yesterday the market came back very strong gaining three hundred and odd points. So these signs of the inherent strength of the US economy seem to show that the recession may not be either deep or long and that the measures taken in Washington were effective and timely. It seems that way, but I think that something else has happened.

The truth is that the capital that is still located in the United States does not have good options right now. The fact that there is still a rush away from Real Estate is a clear signal that it has not hit bottom. The median average home price is down for the first time since records on these prices have been kept. But the market is showing that it foresees much deeper erosion in prices to come. So capital will not go to Real Estate to weather the storm.

Since the interest rates have been lowered again and the inflation is rising sharply, CDs or any other traditional banking instruments are out of the question. The interest that they yield will definitely be below the level of inflation. The fourth quarter inflation figures that came out last week were at 6% accrued annually on wholesale orders. Those figures will enter into the general economy this quarter and presage high inflation throughout 2008. The lowered interest rates and increased deficits in Washington will accelerate the rate of inflation. Therefore capital won’t be heading for the banks.

Other investments that are solid, such as foreign currencies and precious metals are already so expensive that only the truly pessimistic investor will unload the shaky greenback and take a severe beating to buy up gold or Euros.

Now thanks to the falling dollar and our inflation, the stock market still looks like a deal to the foreign investor. We talk about the strong market because it has increased in value from January 2000 until today almost 10% from 11,200 to 12,294 as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial average. In the year 2000, the American Stock market was still losing value after the dot com crash, so its performance is even better than the ten percent. Lets say 15% then, it won’t matter much. During the same time the value of the Euro as measured in dollars has gone from 95 cents to a dollar, forty-seven. That is a rise in value of over 50%. In other words the values of US stocks have not risen in the last seven years for the European investor; they have declined sharply. At this time the US stock market looks like a terrific bargain to the foreign investor and they are investing heavily. That investment (the selling of America) is one of the two things that keep the Dow from taking a serious dive.

Since US capital can’t go abroad without a big hit in the currency exchange, it will probably stay here. As we have seen, Real Estate is out, metals are out for most investors and banks are out. That leaves the stock market. A lot of money is in the stock market from both American and foreign investors and that capital will keep the Dow from crashing. In fact the rich will get richer through this recession. Inflation will be high: over ten percent by year’s end and unemployment will increase to six percent by that time.

The idiot, inflationary giveaway of 150Billion will be way too late to stop the recession. The IRS announced that they would need at least until June to cut the checks. By then the recession will be set and unyielding. It is a waste of money. It is a waste of money that the government does not have. It is being called a tax rebate, but it is just a give away, and as such there is no good reason not to give it to the people that need it most. But instead it will go to everyone that has a net tax payment. Debt and inflation is all this will achieve.


It seems that all of the economic strategies that come from Washington are designed to protect the capital of the rich at the same time that they produce un-payable debt for our children and high inflation that keeps the poor in poverty. The game is rigged.

The Sane Are “Kooks” and The Nuts Run The Asylum

Let’s look back at the last seven years for a moment. We have gone through a period of incredible changes in America that has seen the abandonment of important values and traditions that have been held for centuries. Very few politicians or media pundits seem to notice, and those that have spoken out against the violent change of course have been marginalized as odd, “kooks” and other derogatory terms labeling them as unprepared to comment on policy. We have jettisoned our traditional understanding of justifiable war, our absolute rejection of torture, our dedication to personal freedoms as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights has been repeatedly attacked and eroded, the government has spent trillions that it does not have leaving us under an unserviceable debt, and in which we have been taught that protecting America’s economy and jobs is counter productive and naïve.

Maybe it would be better to look at these items as a list and see what the net result of our change of course has been.

1. Just War – America has traditionally understood the moral principle of just war to be applicable only in cases of defense from actual aggression, either to our country and citizens, or to our allies and their citizens. We have now waged preventive war and the danger that we were to prevent has been proven to be nonexistent.
2. Torture – America was one of the authors of the Geneva Convention that unequivocally outlawed torture as an acceptable practice. We are now internationally famous as a State that practices torture.
3. Personal liberties – America is the original defender of personal liberties in the modern world that. Those liberties were held to be so vital to our national essence that they were understood to be natural rights: rights given to us by our Creator and the Bill of Rights is our guarantee that the government may not take those rights away. In the pursuit of The War on Terror™ our government has violated our Constitutionally guaranteed rights with impunity.
4. Deficit Spending – The American tradition has been for the government to spend only that revenue that it has except in the case of war when special mechanisms have been used to take on debt and then to rapidly pay the debt off after the war. The funding for the Mess in Mesopotamia is dragging us underwater financially and much of that cost has been hidden using unlawful accounting. We don't really know how deep the hole is. Under this administration we have been shouldered with a burden of governmental debt that cannot be paid off without making truly drastic changes in policy. Those changes do not seem to be forthcoming.
5. Our economy and national protection – American trade practices and the purpose of our government have always been to protect our national sovereignty and to guarantee that American workers and products are given at least a level playing field on which to compete. But we have been sold the notion the free trade is good for everyone. The idea has been hammered into our heads so many times by large corporate media, that almost no-one seems to doubt it anymore. We have eliminated tariffs across the board; we have allowed corporations wholly owned by foreign governments to purchase critical American industries. We have given up on the American worker.

The net results of these violent changes in policy have sent the nation spinning down a vortex that ends in disaster. What are the disasters that we face point by point from the list above?

1. Just War – By unilaterally engaging in preventive war we have lost the respect of other free nations. Our leadership is now rejected. We cannot appeal to justice; we cannot offer wise counsel and use our example to stop unjust wars around the globe. No-one is listening to us anymore because we are seen to be hypocrites and dangerous liars.
2. Torture – The result of our use of torture is similar to the first case of unjust war. We have lost the moral high ground. We can no longer use diplomacy to show our example of respect for human rights. Our country is not an attractive model any longer. Our neighbor and closest ally has classified us a State that actively practices torture. We are now in the same boat as Syria, Iran, Israel and Myanmar.
3. Personal Liberties – Americans are rapidly becoming afraid of our own government. Studies show that behavior has changed drastically in areas where there is overt security. People believe that they are being tracked, that their email can be read. It turns out that these worries are true and that the telecoms have been working illegally with the NSA since before 911. The quantity of planned violations of our rights is terrifying and more are on the way. The House Bill HR1955 would make speech by any group that the government decides may be a danger to be illegal. This will be twisted into an Orwellian knot that will bully any dissidence into submission. American citizens have been held for years without having charges filed against them. These are terrible precedents.
4. Deficit Spending – The government through the General Accounting Office recognizes a National debt of 9.5 Trillion dollars. At 5%, the interest on that debt is 475 Billion per year, or roughly equivalent to the Defense Budget. That number is more than double what was inhereted to George Dubya Bush. Of course the real number is much higher, since the government uses fraudulent accounting systems that would put private citizens in jail. The real debt is closer to 15 Trillion and rising. The money is being borrowed from the Social Security Fund (which is now broke) and overseas from countries that are NOT our friends. But Deficit Spending isn’t the only way that we pay for government that we can’t afford. The other way we put money in the hands of the big spenders in Washington is just to print more. Every time the Fed lowers interest rates they are increasing liquidity in the market, translated to English they are printing money – expanding the money supply. We are broke, worse than broke: our credit is maxed out and we keep spending. All this increase in the money supply has brought back inflation and it will be big. It has just started to rise, the cycle will take at least 18 months to slow down and turn around. Inflation will get to double digits.
5. Our economy and national protection – By signing Free Trade agreements with everybody and their brother and by unilaterally eliminating tariffs across the board we have choked off a critical source of government revenue at the same time that we have sent jobs overseas. We are not protecting our border and our sovereignty from immigrants that enter the country illegally and negatively effect the job market for Americans. This problem and its brother above have caused the dollar to plunge in value relative to the Euro by almost 50% and much more relative to gold or oil. That is fine for big American International businesses. They are free to navigate the world, investing here, producing there, and receiving their profits somewhere else. Their P&L statements look pretty good, but the average American is in trouble, burdened with debt that is forced down his throat by a constant barrage of psychologically designed advertising, his wages are stagnant and he is in trouble.

The biggest problem that 4 and 5 are giving us now is recession and inflation. They are here and they are going to be bad. America is in trouble. Our morality has been cashiered, our national defense is in jeopardy and we are broke.

There are some politicians that have spoken honestly about these terribly important problems. They have predicted how these problems would develop into the meltdown that we face today. Incredibly the men and women who have predicted the result of our Iraq policy, our monetary policy and our spending policies have been and continue to be marginalized as Kooks, fringe, eccentrics, and unrealistic.

In particular one man has spoken out about each one of these existential problems from the beginning and has been on target every time. He is, according to Mona Charen and Linda Chavez and Amy Schatz and the Wall Street Journal and the White House and the RNC and Fox News and the New York Times etc etc. a nutcase.
That man is Doctor Ron Paul and he has been right on every issue, predicting exactly the dilemma that would be produced: dilemmas that we now must solve or perish.

Can we stop calling him a kook and listen to this man?
Can we see through the hidden agenda of the Zionists and International corporations?
Are we ready to listen to a man who has a perfect track record or are we going to keep running for the cliff like lemmings?