Archive for category Economy
Great Video on National Debt
Posted by BillORights in Economy, Government Finances, National Debt on July 13th, 2009
Inserted below is a great video on our out of control national debt. Here at Our Time To Stand, we are non-partisan and apolitical. Just because we criticize the ballooning debt bubble under Obama, does not mean we must therefore be fans of John McCain!
We get this ridiculous nonsense all the time: “You don’t like Obama, you must be a Republican”, or “If you didn’t like Bush you must a Democrat”. We get called Republican and Democrat all the time. We are not! We are simply committed to sound money and finances. We recognize how both parties of “left” and “right” have us marching to the tune of debt-servitude. We recognize how both parties have sold your children and their children into debt slavery. This must stop! Join us!
Ron Paul questions Vice Chair of Federal Reserve Kohn on transparency
Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve explaining why a private entity that bails out big business and creates inflation should be ‘independent’ of Congress.
Paul Krugman – Does Anybody Still Listen?
Posted by BillORights in Economy on June 30th, 2009
Krugman seems to be in vogue right now. For those that don’t know, he’s a Keynesian economist, who argues for massive stimulus spending and huge government intervention in the economy. Not surprisingly, he’s a contributor to the NY Times – no wonder newspapers are struggling to stay afloat.
Here at “Our Time To Stand”, we like to judge a book by the contents, and not the cover. So, let’s take a quick peek at some of Krugman’s statements. In 2001, he said:
Meanwhile, economic policy should encourage other spending to offset the temporary slump in business investment. Low interest rates, which promote spending on housing and other durable goods, are the main answer.
In other words, he’s urging then Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan to pump up the bubble. In case we’re are left in any doubt, here is what Krugman said in 2002:
To fight this recession the Fed needs…soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.
That leaves us in no doubt. “Pump up the bubble, Alan, pump it up!” So, if you are wondering why we take a different (Austrian economics) slant on things here, let’s see a quote from Peter Schiff in 2005, from his book “Crash Proof”.
If the dot-com mania was a warm-up, the real act is the real estate bubble. Stock market collapses are bloody, but their damage is pretty well limited to those who bought overvalued stocks. Real estate, though, is all about leverage, and that debacle, already well under way, is going to affect virtually every American. The real estate bubble, easily the worst speculative episode in American history, has been artificially propping up the national economy. … The worst case would be a politically inspired re-inflation aimed at preventing a crash landing. That would mean winding up Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s money printer. When foreign central banks suddenly awakened to reality …
It is almost like he’s gone into the future, seen what transpires and then goes back to the past to write those words. Now, Schiff is a capable guy, but sophisticated temporal manipulation (time travel) is not his forte, so the only conclusion I can draw is that his economic theories are more accurate.
So, the next time you see Krugman in the NY Times, remember that he wanted Greenspan to do exactly what Greenspan did to create the bubble that led to the financial crash. I don’t know about you, but for me that’s enough! I’ll be honest, I am nowhere near smart enough to have done all that research on Krugman, but Mises did, and you read “Krugman’s Intellectual Waterloo” on their site.
Ben Bernanke concerned that HR1207 would be destructive to the financial system and the dollar
From the LRC Blog:
“My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of the programs and the details of the programs but making judgments about our policy decisions would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and a repudiation of the independence of the Federal Reserve would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the Dollar [emphasis mine] and our national economic situation.”
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/028422.html
He says this during the playing out of what many are calling Great Depression 2.0. By the way, did you know that the Great Depression happened about two decades after the creation of the Fed?
Covington Tea Party – July 2nd, 2009
Posted by BillORights in Economy, Tea Party on June 22nd, 2009
If you are anything like us, you were pretty disenchanted with Washington long before Obama got to power. He’s just the latest to inherit his predecessor’s unconstitutional powers. So, please, Tea Party attendees – this isn’t about Obama and the Democrats. Surely, none of us can believe that the Republicans are really a viable alternative. We need to Restore the Republic, not shill for a political party!
In that spirit. I’ll be there!
Tom from “Our Time To Stand” will be speaking at the event.
A Failure of Capitalism? Really?
Posted by BillORights in Economy, Editorial, Money, federal reserve on June 17th, 2009
.. maybe it’s a failure of Government-sponsored corporatism.
Let’s not get caught up in the great distraction that is the left/right political circus. The reason we have such greed and fraud is because of Government regulation, whether “left” or “right” is in power. First a principle:
Fractional Reserve Banking = Fraud (legalized fraud)
“But the Government stands up for the little guy.” — ‘Conventional’ Wisdom
Every corporation, in some form, receives the protection of Government. A corporation is a legal entity given privileges and protections that an individual does not have. In reality, it exists in a Government file folder, and is given legal force by the Government. Banks are just special corporations that are offered all of the normal protections, but are also allowed to commit fraud, charge you for it, and charge you to protect themselves from failure!
Our system of banking is a Government/Banking partnership. Ever wondered why both Bush and Obama are surrounded by Wall Street insiders? Even if there were some kind of regulatory failure, do we really trust the same people that raped and pillaged the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, created unfunded liabilities of $99.2 trillion dollars, and launched an endless series of unconstitutional foreign wars, to oversee anything but their own enrichment?
Let’s Compare Wal-Mart to a Bank
Is fractional reserve banking fraud? You be the judge.
- If Wal-Mart sold the same physical item to 10 different people, the managers would go to jail for fraud.
- Have you ever heard of a “run on Wal-Mart”?
- Why not?
- Because the product is really there.
- Does the government need to insure Wal-Mart’s “deposits” (inventory).
- No – because the product is really there.
- Have you ever heard of a “run on a bank”?
- Yes, and why?
- Because the money isn’t really all there.
- The bank gives 10 people a claim to the same dollar, we call it fractional reserve banking, and “economists” claim it creates wealth. (It does for the banks.)
- The government prevents this fraud from being exposed by “insuring” the deposits, and creating trillions, confiscated from your back pocket in the form of inflation, to bail out the banks when the marketplace attempts to correct their fraudulent activities. (Drive them out of business.)
- The Government is not protecting you, it is protecting the system.
- Every dollar is loaned into existence and “leveraged” 10:1.
- The leveraging is called “fractional reserve”, and it is a legal form of fraud, giving 10 people a claim to the same actual dollar.
- Your “asset” (your dollar) is somebody else’s liability.
- Why do you think it is labeled a “Federal Reserve Note”?
- There is no realistic cap on how many dollars the government and the banks can create – together. (Remember its a partnership.)
- When they inflate, inflate, inflate it will eventually reverse.
- The resulting recession is merely the marketplace attempting to correct the imbalance. (The “marketplace” is just you and me voting with our wallets in mundane, everyday, voluntary activities.)
Do We Have a Captalist System?
No. It is corporatism. Government by, for, and of, big corporations – particularly the banks. (Take a look at H.R. 875. Supposedly about food safety, it should be called the “Agri-Business Take Over and Elimination of Independent Food Production Act”. It’s written by congresswoman DeLauro whose husband is a Monsanto executive! And she’s Democrat, supposedly standing up for the little guy. You can’t make this stuff up …)
Big corporations want regulation. Why compete in the marketplace when you can just cozy up to politicians and have them write laws in your favor? It is a mechanism used to support cartels and prevent competition. It is a restraint on trade. And who trades? You and me! We trade! Trade is the basis of a civilized society. It is nothing more than mutual interdependence, creating social order and raising the standard of living for all people. We rely on each other to survive!
You can not have capitalism, nor a free market, with a central bank and fractional reserve banking.
How Do We End the Fraud?
Like the Constitution, the US Dollar is just a “goddamn piece of paper” (thanks George W). So what gives it value? Simple – one statement: “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE”. Through government fiat (force) you are compelled to take it. This is why it is called a fiat currency. Without the government force, you and I would rather have something of value in exchange for our labor.
Remove the language and the house of cards that is our banking cartel would come crashing down. Capital would once again return to the people where it belongs. It is your labor that creates products and services. It is your labor that is taxed to save the banks. It is your labor that keeps the real economy functioning. It is your purchasing power that is eroded by the inflationary, fiat currency system.
Repeal Legal Tender Laws. End the Fed. End the Fraud.
Imagine if you had the power to create money. Would you use it to shape the world to your own benefit? Do you think the banks do? Do you think the Federal Reserve does? Not to think so is naive.