Finance Unleashed

Simon Johnson, professor at MIT and former IMF chief economist (2007 and 2008) writes in "The Quiet Coup":

Looking just at the financial crisis (and leaving aside some problems of the larger economy), we face at least two major, interrelated problems. The first is a desperately ill banking sector that threatens to choke off any incipient recovery that the fiscal stimulus might generate. The second is a political balance of power that gives the financial sector a veto over public policy, even as that sector loses popular support. [link]

The article takes an interesting look at the incest that exists between USA Politics/Politicians and the Wall Street Big Banks we've been bailing out. Even AIG is thrown into the mix of "Big Banks" ...however, it doesn't technically qualify.

I don't entirely agree with Mr. Johnson's "solution" to the crisis. But then, I'm neither an economist nor a professor. And I'm certainly not a former IMF employee. (Unlike Turbo-Tax-Timmy, who ran into his "tax reporting" difficulties owing to his stint at the IMF.)

The 2 parts that bother me most about Mr. Johnson's solution is that:

1. We the taxpayers -- will need to pay for the cleanup -- not the actual creators of the financial toxic mess.

2. The Wall Street Wolves are continuing to play the CDS game (the game that caused a great deal of the AIG mess - to the tune of $400B - not just the approx $176B we've already had to pay for) and at what appears to be a frantic and increased pace. [link]



They're still doing it!!!

Question: Is Mr. Johnson yet another "economist" letting the Wall Street financial eggheads go with a slap on the wrist while USA taxpayers scrape up the toxic goo they leave behind and pay for it all through our own children born over the next 2 to 3 generations? Or is he right -- and it's the only solution left to us?

Read the article (it's a long one) and you will see that even he admits how integrated Wall Street and Education (Professors and Nobel Laureates alike) have grown over recent years.

And we're supposed to trust their solutions?

How many tentacles do the BIG BANKS have stretching out across our globe? How much incest does exist between Washington bureaucrats and Wall Street big wigs? Do the banks rule us? Does Washington rule us (or work for us)? How did AIG manage to slip into the mix and slip away with taxpayer billions? How many of those AIG bailout-billions were laundered through AIG right into big bank pockets?

Here's just a small example of some of the incest going on.

Video One: Reveals the AIG funnel and spout.

Video Two: Connects a few of the dots.

I hate to say it, but based on all the pieces of information I've been reviewing of late, I'm guessing there is but one way to move forward with great speed and put this nasty period of financial rule and corruption forever behind us.

We need to take a sledge hammer to the "too big to bail" financial industries (and fire a great many of their Washington pals).

It's time to shut down their money laundering business.

They need to splinter themselves. They're either a bank or they're an insurance company or they're an iffy hedge fund... or what?

Whatever they are, they need to clean up their mess. Not us. Not our Government. (That's a whole other toxic mess we need to clean up through the voting booths.) They created it -- they need to fix it. Since they think they are so bloody smart, I'm surprised they haven't fixed things already.

Oh, that's right. They did. They held US accountable and raped us and our children and our children's children.

Pathetic morons.

It's time to bring back the regulations that once protected us (following the Great Depression) and outlaw the shadow-banking-off-the-books-hide-it-all financial instruments they've been oh-so-creatively engineering.

And, as I've mentioned before, the entire Insurance industry also needs to be cleaned up here in the USA.

Pray for your 401k if you have one.

Because I'm guessing that's what they plan to take away from you next.

Small businesses -- find a way to get private funding or operate without funding at all if you can. I have a feeling they'll be squeezing you all next to prove to themselves and our Government how powerful they are -- to have us at their mercy.

In about 3 years (maybe less) the lucky few will be those people who managed to stuff their mattresses.

So sad.

And You Shall Know Their Names

Somewhere in a lavish flat just outside of Harrods in London, one man hides out having managed to scrape millions of dollars off the AIG mess -- and he could be the single most important player that ripped a gaping hole in the financial universe that will take years to heal... if it ever does.

If you have a really strong stomach and want to take an insider's peek into what really happened at AIG, this article from The Rolling Stones is a must read:

"There's this notion that the regulators couldn't do anything to stop AIG," says a government official who was present during the bailout. "That's bullsh*t. What you have to understand is that these regulators have ultimate power. They can send you a letter and say, 'You don't exist anymore,' and that's basically that. They don't even really need due process. The OTS could have said, 'We're going to pull your charter; we're going to pull your license; we're going to sue you.' And getting sued by your primary regulator is the kiss of death."

WARNING -- there is extremely vulgar language in the article referenced below. It is DEFINITELY Triple R rated and NOT for the faint hearted.

It names names.

It points out the one Government body that could have stopped the insanity.

And it explains, in great detail, why other Government bodies COULD NOT stop the eventual explosion (and potential collapse?) of our financial universe.

If you are like me, wanting to know the deeper stories, the stories behind the stories, unravel the mysteries of the universe... then grab a cup of coffee, sit back and be prepared for a VERY LONG READ of this remarkable article exposing more than you could think possible. [LINK]

And after the crash... who was in on the private meetings?

Let's see.... we have a fellow by the name of Geithner. We also have another by the name of Paulson (who looked in from time to time). Oh, and lookey-here... is that Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs?

Hmmmm... and what do all three of them have in common?

And shucky-darn, the whole "crisis" came to the table at the precise moment in financial history that it was decided to let Lehman fall off a cliff. Coincidence?

This little quote half-way through the article caught my attention:

The bonuses are a nice comic touch highlighting one of the more outrageous tangents of the bailout age, namely the fact that, even with the planet in flames, some members of the Wall Street class can't even get used to the tragedy of having to fly coach. "These people need their trips to Baja, their spa treatments, their hand jobs," says an official involved in the AIG bailout, a serious look on his face, apparently not even half-kidding. "They don't function well without them."

But I digress.

Back on point, namely naming names.

Which politicians do you think might have been lobbied hard (complete with lavish campaign contributions) to allow all of the shenanigans to take place in the first place?

Names practically leap off the page:

In 1997 and 1998, the years leading up to the passage of Phil Gramm's fateful act that gutted Glass-Steagall, the banking, brokerage and insurance industries spent $350 million on political contributions and lobbying. Gramm alone — then the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee — collected $2.6 million in only five years. The law passed 90-8 in the Senate, with the support of 38 Democrats, including some names that might surprise you: Joe Biden, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Dick Durbin, even John Edwards.

And just wait until you find out which one of the financial behemoths scored a bundle by "shorting" the housing markets. To me, this whole thing smells of insider trading, but I'm neither a lawyer nor a financial wizard. I'm just a hard working, tax paying work at home mom shaking my head and wondering just HOW in the WORLD can they all just walk away with none of the key players getting locked away?

Instead, they all just get a free pass thanks to you and me?

How many "Goldmanites" are involved in this whole AIG thing? For that, you'll have to read the article. You'll be simply amazed at the maze -- and you might think, rightly so, that it really wasn't AIG that we were bailing out.

And for all of you still drinking koolaide thinking we now live in a nation with total Government transparency, I leave you with this "food for thought" from the article:

If you look at the weekly H4 reports going back to the summer of 2007, you start to notice something alarming. At the start of the credit crunch, around August of that year, you see the Fed buying a few more Repos than usual — $33 billion or so. By November, as private-bank reserves were dwindling to alarmingly low levels, the Fed started injecting even more cash than usual into the economy: $48 billion. By late December, the number was up to $58 billion; by the following March, around the time of the Bear Stearns rescue, the Repo number had jumped to $77 billion. In the week of May 1st, 2008, the number was $115 billion — "out of control now," according to one congressional aide. For the rest of 2008, the numbers remained similarly in the stratosphere, the Fed pumping as much as $125 billion of these short-term loans into the economy — until suddenly, at the start of this year, the number drops to nothing. Zero.

The reason the number has dropped to nothing is that the Fed had simply stopped using relatively transparent devices like repurchase agreements to pump its money into the hands of private companies. By early 2009, a whole series of new government operations had been invented to inject cash into the economy, most all of them completely secretive and with names you've never heard of.

I meant to come and tell you about "Lights Out" from yesterday. And I meant to maybe update you on a few tea parties happening across the nation. And I meant to tell you about the big protests gearing up in London. And I meant to tell you about "papering" a room. And I meant to finish researching info for my "made for tv" script that I'm planning to pen in April.

And then I found -- and read -- the article.

Okay, maybe I wouldn't have been quite so disgusted by what I discovered in the article above if I hadn't already discovered this little gem of an article before it: "Did Goldman Goose Oil?"

You'll see some familiar names in that article, too, such as: Citibank, Merrill Lynch and especially Goldman Sachs.

And, like the author of the news article, you might be guessing how the gas prices managed to spike so high just when the elections of 2008 were heating up. If it's true, then we... dear voters and taxpayers ...were "bamboozled" once again, by many of the same players still pulling from our coffers.

If someone, somewhere, doesn't go to jail over that fiasco, then it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt --- well, you decide. You tell me, in the comments, what you think it proves unequivocally.

Tower Loses Freedom

I missed the headlines screaming yesterday about the "Freedom Tower" being officially named "One World Trade Center" (after one of the twin towers destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks).

Here are a few of the headlines for the day:

"Outcry after new Ground Zero tower loses 'Freedom'" - New York AFP [link]

"No more freedom," read the front page of the Daily News, declaring in an editorial that the site's owner, the New York and New Jersey Port Authority, was "erasing history."

"Freedom is out of fashion at Ground Zero," rival tabloid the New York Post said.

Maybe I'm getting a bit maudlin in my "old age" ...but my heart shed a few tears for America on learning of the name change. Silly sentimentality, right?

Well, next I learn who the first "tenant" will be -- the first contract signed:

The spat coincided with the signing on Thursday of the building's first commercial tenant -- a 21-year deal with China's Vantone Industrial Company.

The Chinese company will take up the entire 65th and 69th floors and part of the 64th with a business and cultural facility dubbed the China Center. [link]

I'm puzzled as to why the AFP article describes the company in an almost tourism like tone (adding the words "cultural facility"), and not as the Chinese real estate investment company that they really are.

The Port Authority of New York said Thursday that it signed Vantone to a 190,810-square-foot lease with a 20-year, nine-month term set to commence upon the building’s completion in 2013. The Chinese developer plans to build out the 64th through 69th floors of the 70-story building as a business/cultural space known as the China Center.

The Center will serve as a hub for Chinese companies establishing operations in the United States, as well as U.S. companies seeking to expand into China. Businesses that choose to locate in the China Center will receive assistance in relocation, real estate, finance and investor relations. Chris Ward, executive director for the Port Authority, called the lease a "clear signal that the World Trade Center site will once again be a global capital of commerce." [link]

Pause: Why do the words "eminent domain" keep ringing in my ears?


As I prepare to enter Script Frenzy beginning April 1/09, I guess I'm just a bit more touchy on the "play on words" game that is being played on all political/marketing fronts.

You see, I believe words really do matter.




PS: I have to dash now, but will be back later with more... (including info about Lights Out)

Who Is John Galt?

Before I answer the question, "Who is John Galt?"

It's not that I'm paranoid, but I want to draw your attention again to "H.R.1388: To reauthorize and reform the national service laws." It passed the House in a vote of 321 (yays) - 105 (nays) [House Roll Call #140 Details].

It goes to the Senate next.

Please LEARN MORE on this site ...read everything on the site.

Please.

Then, learn about "The US President's update of 1404.10 effective immediately on Jan 23 2009."

I'm not going to comment on the above. I'm just shining a flashlight in the forest.

Back to the original topic.

Who is John Galt?

If you know me at all, you know how much I love reading... it's second only to my passion for writing. When a plot and characters are well developed and move the reader forward, when the writer becomes invisible, I truly commend the author.

There are three ways you can get the answer to the question: "Who is John Galt?"

One, you can read the book "Atlas Shrugged" written by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957.

Two, you can google it and check out the Wikipedia information.

Three, you can ask some of the people at the next tea party who might be carrying signs saying simply, "Who is John Galt?"

Needless to say, I Googled first because I kept seeing the question pop up on so many news websites (in the comments sections) ...and I guess it got me curious enough that, well, I just had to know.

Now that I know the answer, I can't wait to read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.

Why?

Well, I have a confession to make...

I entered NANO WRIMO last November, but then landed in over my head with a couple writing projects that absorbed ALL MY TIME... so I couldn't do it. And I hated missing it. The previous year I managed to complete NANO WRIMO without any trouble, writing very part time.

So, since I missed NANO, I just signed on to Script Frenzie.

It starts on April 1, 2009 and ends April 30, 2009.

That's just ONE tiny month to write a 1,000 word script (t.v., movie or other).

No, I'm not going to do an adaptation.

But, since script writing contains almost all dialogue, and this particular Ayn Rand book appears to contain a great deal of dialogue and monologue... that's perfect prep reading to get my script-writing mind in gear.

So, who is John Galt?

I'm going to let you google for that one.

Until next time... stay tuned!




PS: Okay, if you don't want to google for the answer, you can find out -- Who is John Galt? -- by reading the description for Atlas Shrugged (Cliffs Notes) over at Amazon.com

The Tangled Web They Weave

UPDATE: (03/27/09) Apparently, the "language" for Bill H.R.1388 was modified from its original version at the last moment before being approved in the House, striking out the part about setting up a committee to determine minimum manditory service requirements for citizens. But, as we see from what happened with Dodd and the AIG fiasco, does it mean it might not reappear at some later date -- again at the final hour before Presidential signing? Who knows?


Original Article Posted Thursday, March 19, 2009 starts here:

Chris Dodd appears to have been caught in his own web, stating first that he "had absolutely nothing to do" with the modifications in the Stimulus which protected the so-called retention bonuses at AIG...

And then, less than 24 hours(?) later admits that, yes, he did make the last minute changes that the Senate did not see, but he did it at the request of the Treasury Dept.

As the "blame Dodd diversion" is rolled out, and we eventually come to see it was actually the Feds who created the AIG Bonus angst, let's take a time travel trip.

It's reminiscent of the way certain Democrats (Barney Frank among them) fought so hard against investigations and further regulations/restraints being placed on Fannie and Freddie, then turned around to scream out in rage against the Republicans for doing nothing to stop them.

Tiptoe back a bit further when the CRA was modified to encourage the whole mess to take place...

A bit further back when a certain Democrat put the CRA into play in the first place.

Heck, why not go all the way back in history to original sin... NO [EDIT OUT] ...I don't think you're ready for that one yet.

Before I move on here, I want you to NOTE THIS:

You are not responsible for your father's sins. You are only responsible for your own. Don't let them convince you otherwise.

The exception to the rule appears to be in high ranking political bodies and certain campaign contributors deemed "too big to fail" ... where they seem to get away with a multitude of sins and carefully deflect any/all responsibility and/or repercussions onto taxpaying citizens... or at least that's what it appears to be to me.

Charles Schisler from the Buenos Aires Herald wrote on March 7, 2009:

When the great ship Titanic made her maiden voyage across the North Atlantic and its blinded leader struck the iceberg, it would have been absurd to announce: "All hands on deck to man a bucket brigade; this ship is too big to fail!" To require men, women and children to try to bail out the Titanic until its final plunge, while its captain and officers took refuge in the few lifeboats is not unlike what taxpayers are being forced to do in this financial meltdown. Just as then, the correct response would be not "too big to fail," but instead, "Too Big to Bail."

I mention it now, because I believe all of those AIG hearings have managed to deflect attention from some far more serious plans afoot...

The greatest threat to our society is not credit default swaps or mortgage-backed securities. It is the loss of our understanding of limited government, individual liberty, and the economic system which creates a prosperous and free society. [link]

Casey Research, LLC once wrote:

"Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Excise Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Gross Receipts Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges/IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Personal Property Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service Charge Tax, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax, Sales Tax, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Taxes, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax.

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell P-O-L-I-T-I-C-I-A-N-S?"

The "defensive" will cry out by claiming quality of life wasn't exactly great 100 years ago.

And it has improved, how....?

Frankly, the Feds have kind of stuck themselves between a rock and a hard place right now.

Say the economy is too good/too strong and they don't have any excuse to bleed more money out of the taxpayer. Say the economy is too bad, not only does it affect domestic investing perceptions, foreign investors also get nervous and start pulling back from funding our ballooning debt.

Only one thing appears to be certain -- their steadfast refusal to accept any responsibility for any of the things going on in the economy right now.

They'd rather trample all over the Constitution in an attempt to deflect populist anger over the AIG thing -- the great diversion -- ignoring how everything started ballooning out of control.

(Notice how the Fannie and Freddie bonus announcements slipped under the radar?)

Let's go backwards a minute, and examine Obama's economic team, beginning with Geithner:

Debt defines today's crisis, yet under Bush, Geithner, as New York Fed president, helped fuel it and believes more debt, over-consumption, and unaffordable new borrowing will return the economy to sustainable growth which, of course, it can't.

...Investor Jim Rogers never holds back, and, on February 11, was true to form on Bloomberg: Interviewed on Geithner's plan he said:

"Mr. Geithner has been bombing for 15 years. (He) caused the problem. He was head of the New York Fed that was supposed to be supervising banks. (Instead), all last year he came up with TARP. He came up with all these absurd bailouts. Geithner has never known what he's doing. He doesn't know what he's doing now, and pretty soon everyone will know it, including Mr. Obama."

Now I don't know about you, but ever since this whole thing started blowing up I was receiving on average anywhere from 3 to 5 (and sometimes more) calls from various lending institutions that wanted me to borrow money. Not nickels and dimes mind you -- they only wanted to talk to me if they could lend me in large numbers, preferably from $75K and up. Honestly, I've never been pushed so hard to take a loan in my life. Needless to say --- I said no --- to all of them --- still saying no.

But back on track...

Let's not exclude other members on the dream team:

Larry Summers completes the economic troika as head of the National Economic Council (NEC). As Clinton's Treasury Secretary, he engineered Gramm-Leach-Bliley in November 1999. It let commercial and investment banks and insurance companies combine and eased the way for rampant speculation, fraud, abuse, and multiple bubbles that created today's crisis.

And being from farm country -- DO NOT FORGET Mr. Paul Volker:

Paul Volker plays a role as well as special Economic Recovery Advisory Board head, but look at his resume. As Fed chairman in 1979 and the early 1980s, he engineered a deep recession and set in motion a path to neoliberalism. He helped destroy family farms, crush labor, reduce wages, lower living standards, send unemployment soaring, rev up de-industrialization, and supercharge the early years of financialization and casino capitalism under Ronald Reagan.

If you have the patience to read through an extremely large article (source for some of the above) check out: "Toxic Plans for Toxic Assets"

Reading through the article, the Bush-bashing can be read "between the lines" ...so it is with some surprise that I read this interesting quote nearing the end of the same article:

"With this kind of "dream team," Obama may match or exceed "the most incompetent eight years of government in modern times, and (be) a contender" for all time, according to money manager and market strategist Jeremy Grantham. If so, the worst of today's crisis lies ahead. Massive future plunder is coming to make working Americans no better off than millions of global wage slaves, that is if they have any decent employment at all."

And let's take another look at Obama's participation in all this as he desperately tries to distance himself from everything by a string of fireside chats and an appearance on Jay Leno. In case you missed this, Networks appear to be getting a bit tired of all this commandeering of prime time television. [Networks reluctantly shuffle for Obama speech]

...Yeah, I usually turn him off these days, too.

But back to who-knew-what-and-when, check this out:

Jane Hamsher in an article on firedoglake, has documented the media coverage from 6 weeks ago that shows unequivocally that President Obama along with Lawrence Summers and Secretary Geithner pressured Senator Chris Dodd to alter his amendment to the stimulus bill that would have made all future bonus payments made to executives at bailed-out companies subject to strict limits. [link]

Water off a duck's back for Obama, right? Not so fast:

There is outstanding detail in Greenwald's and Hamsher's accounts that readers need to see, but for our purposes, two salient facts emerge. First, that in painful Slick Willy style, the Obama White House is willing to sacrifice the truth and destroy a fellow Democrat (Dodd) in order to preserve it's populist image. And more importantly that Obama, Geithner and Summers all knew about the AIG retention bonuses long before February 28th as postulated by TIME above, and certainly before March 10th, as Geithner testified to Congress under oath earlier this week. [link]

And the above comes from a confessed Obama voter. Do 'ya think he's losing some public support?

"Bracing for a Backlash Over Wall Street Bailouts" (The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama's agenda.)

I guess it's a good time for Obama to escape Washington for a bit. Or, to be more precise, start campaigning again so he can keep his loyal following supporting ever more (and much higher) spending in the months, and years, ahead.

If you think, as I do, that the Feds are going wild with our checkbook... brace yourselves.

We're not nearing the end of their spending spree.

They're just getting warmed up.

Here are just a few headlines you may have missed while the AIG diversion was created to keep your attention off the game:

"Officials: Auto Suppliers to Get $5B Bailout" (Auto suppliers have sought up to $25 billion to stabilize the battered U.S. auto industry.)

"Goldman Takes Risks With Lending Offer" - (To protect its business model, Goldman Sachs is risking "TARP rage," the special wrath that taxpayers and lawmakers reserve for potentially questionable actions by those that receive money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bank is providing loans to up to 1,000 employees so they can meet capital calls related to their investments in funds that Goldman manages. Doing so after taking TARP money, rather than using the government largess to increase lending, sounds like a recipe for a public relations disaster. But it may be essential if Goldman is to make sure that other investors in its funds follow through on their commitments.) Do ya think we'll be seeing another bailout here?

"Fed Announces Plan to Buy More Than $1T in Assets" - Yeah, that's $1 Trillion with a T! (Mark my words, you'll be seeing some inflation backlash on this one.)

"Fed Launches Bold $1.2 Trillion Effort to Revive Economy" - Okay, so it's not a Trillion... it's actually $1.2 Trillion? (To do so, the Fed will spend up to $300 billion to buy long-term government bonds and an additional $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.)

"Whitney: Banking Woes Likely to Get Worse in 2009" - The part about Washington being understaffed is, well, errrr... interesting?

Even the U.N. is taking a page from the Obama/Emmanuel playbook, ready to step in and take advantage of the so-called crisis-opportunity:

$750 billion "green" investment could revive economy: U.N. - (Investments of $750 billion could create a "Green New Deal" to revive the world economy and protect the environment, perhaps aided by a tax on oil, the head of the U.N. environment agency said on Thursday.) Yeah, even the U.N. wants to use the "economic crisis" to tax us even further... now and well into the future!!!

And add insult to injury with this:

"13 Firms Receiving Federal Bailout Funds Owe $220M in Back Taxes" (Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, told the hearing that if an executive signed a contract knowing that information about unpaid taxes was false, "that would potentially be a crime." He said his office will look to see if crimes were committed. The revelation is sure to spark outrage on Capitol Hill, where the House is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would impose steep taxes on employee bonuses at firms that have received bailout money.)

AND IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE - AT LEAST READ THIS!

And finally, a BILL that seems to have completely slipped under the radar that has the potential to further enslave future generations.

This Bill slated to cost $6 billion over five years should have young people very concerned:

"House Passes Volunteerism Bill Critics Call Pricey, Forced Service" -
The bipartisan commission will be tasked with exploring a number of topics,
including "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."

Imagine that... not only will our children be paying off the massive, uncontrollable debt this Administration insists on growing to massive proportions, they might also be "forced" to work for FREE as and when future Governments see fit.

I go back to original sin.

The sin that Democrats of the time fought so hard to keep.

And the same sin a newly formed Republican party fought so hard to abolish.

Can you guess what it was?

Welcome to the Change he really wants?

Stay calm.

My grandmother always said, "What goes around, comes around."

While the Fed is busy rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic, let's get the buckets and mops out in preparation to clean our House starting in 2010.

Evacuation Day and St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

And Happy Evacuation Day to those of you living in Boston. For those who don't know, Evacuation Day is an "only-in-Suffolk-County holiday that commemorates when the Continental Army hauled 50 cannons up Dorchester Heights on March 17, 1776, and forced the redcoats out of Boston." [link]

I see the DOW is going a little nuts today... the yo-yo effect.

But I want to step back in time a bit today, to share with you a copy of this New York Times article dating all the way back to September 30, 1999 ...lest we forget the match that struck the flame leading to the economic firestorm we're still getting burnt by. (Thanks to Rick for sending this in!)

Click here for a pdf version of the scanned article and note the underlined paragraphs.

While Barney Frank tries to polish up his tarnished image and ride in like a shining white knight against the big bad black knight (AIG), I find it frankly (pun intended) amazing that the public has any regard left for him.

After all, we all remember how Blustering Barney publicly chastised those who wanted Freddie and Fannie reigned in, cutting into them vociferously by claiming they were wasting taxpayer dollars and time investigating those two entities.

You missed the video? Click below (or here) to see it through YouTube.



While Barney Frank tries to ride the wave of public outrage against AIG, trying to score political points, I'm hoping there are more than a few of us who have longer memories when the next round of elections come up.

Cleaning that part of our House will be up to the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts. (Sorry, Boston, but again, happy Evacuation Day!)

I wonder if Blustering Barney is out there right now scrambling around searching for his four leaf clover... or taking a secret trip to a certain castle just outside of Cork, Ireland so he can "kiss the Blarney Stone" to boost his blarney in the hopes of salvaging his political career.

Enough about blarney from Barney.

Have a super St. Patrick's Day!

What Really Happened in CINCINNATI Yesterday

If what really happened in Cincinnati yesterday is any indication, then it's yet more proof that big chain news giants are NOT reporting the news anymore.

Imagine, anywhere between 4,000 to 6,000 people show up (crowds were so large it was difficult to estimate actual numbers) and...

Well, go to the Instapundit to see live pictures that were sent in as the day progressed, as well as eyewitness reports on what the few mainstream reporters who showed up chose to report on.

From what I hear, April 15, 2009 (tax day) will be another HUGE DAY in several States throughout the country.

But I'm betting there will be few (if any) serious journalists reporting the truth about the groundswell of disapproval raising in earnest as the Government squanders Trillions of taxpayer dollars.

When you see the Billions of dollars that were skimmed off of us through AIG to offshore banks... you can't really blame people for standing up to express their discontent.

However, I'm guessing the new Administration and their shadow organizations set up to influence and push their agenda on "the people" will find a way.

After all, their M.O. has already been made quite clear:
- target
- make it personal
- isolate, and
- conquer (destroy all credibility)

Can you guess the names of some of the people they have already targeted with this M.O.?

Yeah... I bet you can.

Word to the wise -- don't believe everything you hear in the months to come. Question everything. And always, always, always dig for the truth. You can do it. I have faith in you.

PS: have you seen the Debt Star yet?

Stand Up and Be Counted

I posted what I feel is an important article on My Power Tips blog today.

You can read the article through this link: Stand Up and Be Counted America

Contrary to what you may or may not believe about me, I care deeply about North America (and include Canada in this remark).

I read something over the weekend that disturbed me, spurring the post I made above. Here is an excerpt from the post that I want to share with WAHM Diary readers:

We live in interesting times.

We are privileged to be eyewitnesses to a very important time in our planet's history. I’m not talking about politics, the environment, nor the economy... I’m referring to the period of flux that mankind has been steadily marching towards for the past several decades.

Some unfortunate decisions have been made here in the USA this year.

Things are going to get tough... really tough.

It's too late to turn back. We've already been hurtled forward on this crazy rollercoaster for what will surely be the most tumultuous ride of our lives.

Unlike what you infer by your post however, I believe the majority of North Americans (both in Canada and in the USA) are incredibly resourceful. I believe that they have many untapped strengths and talents... and I look forward to seeing them prove to the world how very strong, resilient and passionate they can be.

Admittedly, there are plenty of bad elements that have been allowed to take root and fester within...

But the heart and soul of North America (I include Canada in this as well), the part not reflected in the flyby media of today, still beats at the core of our nations.

Determination, persistence, resilience... it all still exists here at home. Compassion, integrity, faith... still ring true within many hearts across our great lands. Imagination, creativity and the unquenchable thirst for knowledge, truth and justice still beat in the hearts of many.

This might not be the land of the truly free that our forefathers wanted... but I dare say, this is still the land of the bravest in the world!

You can read My Power Tips to find out what spurred me to write the above.

Prepare for the Coming Storm

Why share this with you now?

Because... in the weeks and months ahead, as we enter some of the toughest times in our lifetime, you'll be seeing a great deal of passion pour out in my words. I want to make it very clear, right here and now, how deeply I care about North America and the remarkable people that make this continent truly unique.

'Nuff said for now. Prepare for the coming storm, and stay tuned....

Camden Indiana in the New York Times

Spend any time at all on my blog and it's not long before you know my personal opinion on the dangers to health, water and wildlife that CAFOs represent. It's not only specualtion on my part. My opinion was formed based on years of researching the subject.

That's why I knew it was just a matter of time before mainstream media finally caught up to what smaller newspapers and rural communities have been talking about for decades.

Check out this Op-Ed piece in the New York Times March 12, 2009:
"Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health"

I've written elsewhere on this blog about MRSA, as well as the many other viruses, pathogens, and more that could be carried to us through the food supply and through the waste disposal practices of industrial farms.

The article above is worth reading.

Who Said Power Corrupts?

I love history. I believe it leaves clues...

I believe that there are lessons we were all meant to learn... and when we haven't learnt the lesson, we are doomed to repeat it. I also believe that each time we have to repeat a lesson, the lesson itself will grow steadily more severe each time it must be repeated.

So I want to take you back a bit through time.

Bear with me. I'll explain why this little trip through time is important to this particular time in our history in a minute.

First, let's travel back to the 17-1800's.

In 1887, Bishop Mandell Creighton received a letter from historian and moralist, first Baron, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, better known as Lord Acton (1834–1902), that contained the following sentence:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

A little further back, in 1770, in a speech to the UK House of Lords, William Pitt, the Elder, The Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778 stated:

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it."

Now let's fall all the way back in time to a period described as the "birth" of "western" philosophy -- the era of Plato whom is estimated to have been born 428 or 427 BC – and whose death is estimated to have been 348 or 347 BC).

The 5 Stages to the Fall of an Empire, as Described by Plato

According to Plato, a state which is made up of different kinds of souls, will overall decline starting first...

1. from an aristocracy (rule by the best)


2. to a timocracy (rule by the honorable),


3. then to an oligarchy (rule by the few),


4. then to a democracy (rule by the people),


5. and finally to tyranny (rule by one person, rule by a tyrant).

He (Plato) once asked which is better - a bad democracy or a country reigned by a tyrant? He argued that it is better to be ruled by a bad tyrant (since then there is only one person committing bad deeds) than be a bad democracy (since here all the people are now responsible for such actions.)

Now one more teeny step back in time... to Socrates.

Socrates stressed that "virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows of existence, and it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know."

Socrates, often credited with founding western philosophy and who was put to death by the democracy of Athens in May, 399 BC, was Plato's teacher and mentor; Plato, like some of his contemporaries, wrote dialogues about his departed teacher.

Socrates often said his (Socrates') own wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance.

BUT, and this is important, just like today where current politicians quote former Presidents and rulers, twisting the words to suit their own purpose and/or partisan politics... so, too, has Plato been accused of doing the same with his dialogues quoting Socrates.

Plato (understandably so) seems to have hated democracy. After all, it was the Athens "democracy" that sentenced his mentor, Socrates, to death.

In Plato's 5 stages as described above, what happens when you skip the "aristocracy" rule stage and jump straight to the "democracy" stage...?

Think about it.

The USA is the ONLY NATION in the entire world that has risen (with great speed) into such a powerful nation without beginning from royalty/aristocracy roots.

Flash forward in time to our humble beginnings...

George Washington learned how to survey land at the tender age of 16 and started his own surveying business when only 17 years old, so he was in essence an entrepreneur ...a business man.

George Washington himself rode at the forefront of many battles on the battlefield, escaping injury many times. In one particularly long and fierce battle, four bullets ripped through his coat and two horses were shot from under him. He very much earned his rank as Colonel, and later General. So he can also be described as a military man.

George Washington has long been perceived as an honest man, a common man, a business man, a military man, in one way or another, he can represent each one of us...

Neither philosopher, nor King, George Washington became our first President.

By unanimous vote...

Upon George Washington's death, Henry Lee, who had been with Washington in the Revolutionary War, wrote that Washington was "...first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

General Lee read this eulogy in Congress. Everyone shared his feelings.

Where it took, in many cases, thousands of years for other governments born of aristocracy to rise to a powerful nation among nations ...it took this nation, with a government elected by the people, for the people... a small handful of years by comparison.

There is an important new lesson here for philosphers of the future.

Historians of the future will have a great debate over whether this nation began as either:

• A timocracy?
• Or a democracy?

And embedded in history dating all the way back to the 3rd century BC, there is an old lesson we might also be doomed to repeat -- today -- in the here and now.

As Obama signs yet another multi-Billion-dollar Bill pounding us all into a debt which MUST be repaid, both in our lifetimes and for generations to come, one has to wonder how close to Plato's final stage are we?

Obama liked to pretend he didn't break any promise with respect to "earmarks" in the GIANT Stimulus Bill (which Pelosi already practically admitted will fail without yet another Stimulus Bill to follow it)...

And now, he admits, yeah, this new "budget" Bill is not perfect... rationalizing and justifying why he will be signing it (stuffed with 8500 earmarks) anyway.

Here is a man who during his campaigning declared he would wipe out "earmarks" and instead, now stands before us declaring what the rules will be to play the "earmarks" game.

There is a lesson mankind forgot to learn in the past.

And it's been repeated...

And repeated...

Getting far more severe with each repitition.

Could it be our destiny to break the cycle? ...to learn the lesson that nations before us ignored?

Before we cross that line -- the line between democracy and tyranny -- it is oh-so-very important that we remember this:

"We surround them."

Watch the Glenn Beck show on Friday, March 13, 2009.

If you can't be home to watch it (at 4 pm Central Time/3 pm Eastern)... be sure to Tivo it or DVR it.

PS: There is another lesson missed, buried all the way back to Socrates time. It was missed by him. It was missed by Plato. It has been missed by nation after nation after nation ever since... taught wrongly in schools since the dawn of western philosophy. And we hold the key to unlocking and learning that lesson now. Do you know what lesson it is?