Insanity on Capitol Hill

With the nation deepening in economic turmoil a virus seems to have gotten loose on capitol hill. This virus seems to turn the minds and backbones of men and women alike, into a gelatinous mass. They then stop thinking and rush to get something done, rather than stopping to think if they ought to be doing anything at all.

We stand at a crossroads, the future of our country is looking more bleak every day. Our lawmakers seem more ready to do the things that will bring them greater popularity, rather than take a hard look and make hard or unpopular decisions that would be in the best interest of our country.

Now that we have every lawmaker in Washington DC squabbling over the billions of dollars that they want to print for us, our state leaders are discussing all the great ways that they can spend the money that comes to them. What a great opportunity for our state leaders to really “LEAD” and turn down the money. Follow true economic principles and somebody take a stand before this beast destroys what little we have left. Call your state representatives and ask them to stand against this doling out of your children’s future today.

The problem was not created because of and will not be fixed with MONEY. We must take a stand for principle or we will reap the unfortunate rewards of economic slavery.

Is Ayn Rand to blame for our Economic Turmoil?

Amidst all of the news about the economic crisis, the bail-outs, the nationalization of our key industries, it is great to finally see some comments in the news that get to the real heart of the situation. What is the root of the problem, and who is really to blame? Barrett Sheridan wrote an article over at Newsweek that I feel adequately covers the crisis and unveils the truth about our economic crisis. So go and see who is really to blame.

Open Letter to the Government

An Open Letter to Washington

I address those in Washington charged with the sacred duty of representing the views of the people, as well as our Chief Executive.

From its inception in 1776 the United States of America was designed to be a haven from tyranny in its many forms.  Our founders who drafted the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other important formative documents gave high value to freedom, liberty, and self-determination.

They recognized that tyranny seeks to remove these divinely bestowed gifts from personal possession amongst a citizenry.  It was during such a time in our nation’s history that great men met to plan how these gifts could be preserved as perhaps never before.

During dark times our founding fathers exchanged ideas of government with these principles of liberty in the forefront of their minds and hearts.  They asked for divine guidance and drafted the documents that changed earthly history.  We have been blessed by these guiding principles for many years.

We are faced today with choices that will change earthly history again.  The bill recently passed by the Senate and Congress which was then signed by the President places in peril our freedom, liberty, and self-determination.

The so called, “bail out bill” is an assertion that we depend on government.  This is simply not true.  If we act as though it were, our freedoms will not survive.  This usurpation of power without consideration to the balances placed in effect by the Constitution has the power to destroy our freedoms.

In Freudian terms the Legislative and Executive branches acted as one giant “id”, making decisions without regard to the voice of the people and without recognizing that their “timeline” did not allow for the process of judicial review.

Freud’s “id” acts only in hedonistic self interest seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.  I can think of no better descriptor to explain what occurred this past week.

Freud theorized that the “id” would destroy itself were it not for its counter balance the “super ego” which is ideal and value driven.

The “super ego” informs the “id” that it can’t act without considering certain rules and consequences.

I would compare the “super ego” to the fortuitously created Constitution left by our forefathers and its properly executed enforcement via judicial review of the Supreme Court.

Freud’s third participant in this process is the “ego”.  The ego balances the two pulling forces of the “id” and the “super ego”.

In many ways the ego acts as a fulcrum point, or the true position of power.  This power MUST be in the People; We the People!

In your process of governing these past few weeks you have acted as the “id” serving against the will of the people; bypassing their will through strategically negotiated, self interested, pork barrel spending.

The passage of the bail out bill was not earned through hard work and innovative thinking; it was purchased using bribery and coercion.

The People didn’t want to spend $700 Billion, but you spent it anyway and then you added an additional $112 Billon buying the votes needed to pass this bill.

If you did not vehemently fight against this bill, I consider you accountable.  If your vote was bought, I hold you responsible.  If you supported this bill I wish you were more creative and I wish that you truly believed in the American people.

What have the People had to say during this?  People across the country have expressed hesitancy at the expenditure of their tax money for the purpose of bailing out companies which have been either imprudent or unscrupulous in their financial practices.

The bill was presented to the public as the only solution and we were told that its immediate passage was necessary to prevent disaster.

I recall feeling at the time as if I was receiving a sales pitch at a car dealership.  In the past I have fallen for this hype.  This was before I knew that the best way to purchase a car, is to purchase a car I can afford and buy with cash.  If that happens to be a $650 beater, so be it.

Having learned that purchasing a vehicle I cannot afford only brings servitude, I see past the sales floor farce and I have seen past yours.

There is more than one solution to our present financial crisis and it has nothing to do with the expenditure of money or a specific timeframe.

The long term solution is centered in the implementation of prudent financial practices by our citizens, by our institutions of commerce and by our government.
Just like I must do when I go car shopping; some of our unrealistic dreams must die.  There may be a great deal of pain associated with that.

My 401k plan has decreased in value, but if it is the true reflection of the value then I prefer to accept that real value rather than entertain a delusion of an inflated value.

We the People have expressed a desire to “take the hit” and deal with the reality of this crisis now in lieu of making this absurd expense and exacerbating the problem for the future, and for our children.

Many polls showed that a majority of people did not support the bail out. I challenge you, as our political representatives, to review the positions expressed to you by email, letters, and phone calls.  Look and see what we the People wanted.  I fear that most of you will find that you failed to represent us.

I applaud those of you who listened to your constituencies.  I specifically thank Congressmen Rob Bishop and Jim Matheson who listened to their People and voted against this bill.

I shamefully recognize that Senators Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch as well as Congressman Chris Cannon chose not to represent the will of their People.  This is already reflected in Chris Cannon’s loss of his party ticket.

I will do everything in my power to ensure that those who do not listen to their constituencies do not return to Washington.

You in Washington have become an out of control “id” that does not recognize the need to adhere to the rules set forth in our founding documents which are meant to preserve freedom.

You have lost perspective of what it means to be a representative.  You have not recognized that your duty is not to dole out what you feel is best for your constituents, but rather to listen to your constituency and represent their will on the Congress and Senate floors.  You have failed your litmus test.

Let us return to the topic of tyranny.  The cost of this bill will be shouldered by the People; and is in essence taxation.

The manner in which the bill was passed lacked the component of true representation.  The Revolutionary War was sparked by this same act; taxation without representation.

Though centuries have passed, the desire of the American people to be heard remains strong and constant.

Hear us now:  Represent us or we will revoke your office of power.  We are not children needing to be rescued.  We are beings capable of utilizing the gifts entrusted us by God; capable of self-determination.

We can and eventually will depend on ourselves to recover from this economic crisis.  Please allow us this right.

I urge the People of America, from sea to shining sea, to take back your government.  Regardless of your party-affiliations express your views to your representatives, share your ideas, and vote into office people at the local, state, and national level who understand that their duty is to represent us not rule over us.

I urge those of you who currently hold the sacred representative roles to reflect on your recent choices.

Did your vote truly fit your ideals?
Do you have “buyer’s remorse”?
Have you violated our trust?

I believe in our system of government.  It was designed to function if you truly represent us, it cannot if you violate that trust.

If your stance requires change and you are willing to do so, I will accept you.  I recognize that you are human.

Perhaps the consequences that we face by taking responsibility for our nationwide practices of living beyond our means caused you to want to shrink away from the consequences.

However, I assert that those consequences, as fierce as they may seem, will pale in comparison to the cost of the loss of freedom.

I ask you to use your positions and our political structure to ensure that these errors of usurpation of power do not occur again.

I urge our current President and those who are seeking this office to have faith in the potential and resolve of your people.

Do not think of us as weak and unable to weather a storm.  Lead us through the storms.  Teach us about ourselves through your expectations of us.

I urge our third branch of government, our Judicial branch, to take up their role in our system of checks and balances to challenge this new law, and restore our confidence that the structure of our freedoms as outlined in the Constitution remains sound.

Signed a hopeful American,

Karson Kinikini

Why is Greenspan “Shocked”?

On October 23rd, in a financial witch hunt, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform questioned Allen Greenspan,  the former chairman of the federal reserve, on the current market crisis.

Greenspan is quoted as saying that he “found a flaw” in his professed ideology that the free-market is best left to regulate itself. And that he was “partially” wrong in his opposition to regulation in the derivatives market, expecting that institutions would protect shareholders and there investments. He then went on to advocate increased regulation in the securities market.

While it is disconcerting at the least to hear the former fed chairman make these sort of retractions on the decisions with which he has been supposedly “guiding” the fed with. It is even more troubling that individuals will read some of the results of this witch hunt and believe the tripe that is being spouted.

During the heyday of the asset/realestate boom in the US and around the world, few seemed to care or even be concerned at the looming potential economic disaster that was being nursed along. Only now after the infant has emerged as an adolescent rebel and is causing havoc around the globe is it on everyone’s mind.

Let’s take a quick step backward and look at this crisis that everyone in power is quickly jumping to point the blame for, and do some basic analysis. We could step further back in time to show these effects over the past many years, but for the sake of the readers time we will just jump back to 2000. On the heels of the dot com bomb, the federal reserve lowers it’s interest rate to an all time low, in an effort to marginalize the impact of this upset in the financial industry. Then not long after on September 11th 2001 an attack on the financial district of New York sent the US and world markets into an uproar, fearing long term financial impacts the fed again lowers its rate to an all time low, and then continues to keep the rate abnormally low for the next 5 years.

Along with the low interest rates, the credit liquidity that the fed makes available for banks was exceptionally easy for them to tap into. And to add to the market abnormalities the US government had created laws that in an effort to get everyone who wanted a home into a home, made it even easier to qualify for various mortgage programs. So with easy credit liquidity and legislation providing low lending requirements, supposed “Predatory Lenders” and conservative lenders alike had customers knocking down their doors to get a “piece of the action”. There were programs that required so little that they only wanted to know the borrowers credit score, and that they had sufficient funds to pay only 2 months on the mortgage, with only that information they could approve the applicant on a loan up to 1.5 million dollars.

With credit so easy to come by, people naturally looked to a traditional asset like real estate as a method by which to tap into the credit, and create income streams based solely on the leverage of their own and others credit worthiness. The only thing which fueled this boom, was the ease of credit acquisition. As people bought homes, the prices raised as they would in a normal/natural free market. This allowed them to again leverage credit to purchase another piece of real estate at the increased market value and continue the process.

To say that this was an error in the way that the free-market runs would be to discount the effects that these market controls had on what has happened to our economy. A person or business operating within a completely free market relies on market indicators to determine the choices that they will make. The free-market naturally seeks for a point of equilibrium where the supply matches the demand in the market. But when some of the key market factors are arbitrarily controlled or forced into certain positions that they wouldn’t naturally be in a free-market (ie: Credit Liquidity, Interest Rates, Legislation requirements on the market) then that sends the other market indicators into a flux that doesn’t make any rational sense. Individuals in the market will naturally make their decisions for their own self interest based on those indicators, which would be in the path of the greatest profit for the least expense. This decision lead most people to decide on taping their credit to increase their profitability, because the requirements were kept artificially low.

A totally free-market would have naturally increased the interest rate and the requirements for getting the loans, thus normalizing the market long before we reached this crisis state. The market would have not allowed for this or many other similar economic catastrophes which have occurred over the last 95 years. These have been the result of allowing our market to be arbitrarily controlled and managed by a group of private bankers who are seeking for their own gain at the expense of the rest of the US. This group has created and managed the fed over that time period, they passed the fed as a method to avoid the market instability that a “free-market” offered, but as a result we have experienced much more frequent and more devastating economic troubles since it’s inception than we ever did from the creation of the United States until the creation of the fed in 1913.

I would agree with Greenspan and say that his philosophy has been flawed, not in the case of the market being the best regulator of itself, but rather in the assertion that the Fed should maintain it’s arbitrary control on the market.

The demon that created this disaster is now being hailed as the white knight with the ability to manufacture the funds to bail out our banks and potentially the banks of other nations rather than being held accountable for it’s role in perpetrating this nefarious blunder on the US people. If we are going to call for additional regulation as a result of this catastrophe, let us regulate the architects rather than the subcontractors, and call for the US house of representatives to exercise their constitutional responsibility to justly oversee the actions of the Fed and call for greater oversight of its actions.

Article Links:

Reuters

Bloomberg

Rally Recap

Here is your long awaited recap of our recent rally. We thank those who attended the rally in person as well as those who attended in spirit.

Despite the small number of individuals that were able to be there because of the time of the rally, we had many representitives from the media there with us. We garnered some favorable coverage of the rally itself at the event. The media coverage brought together many individuals that were in support of the rally’s cause, as well as bringing out many detractors from whom it was valuable to get their resoning for opposition.

The two main media outlets that covered the event were KSL tv and The Salt Lake Tribune I will include the contents from their reports as well as links to their original articles. We will post the Open Letters to the Government in an additional post.

Salt Lake Tribune:

Links to the article:

First Article

Second Article

Article Text:

Thomas Dyches knows what it’s like to lose everything. He has gone through a foreclosure and bankruptcy, but he blames only himself for the situation he’s in.
“I am one of those so-called foreclosure victims. We leveraged ourselves like the banks would love us to do,” said Dyches, a founder of Utah-based, nonpartisan pyrolitical.com. “But do not save me. Let me fix this on my own. Do not give us a bailout or stimulate us or save us. Washington, that is not your job.”
Cofounder Karson Kinikini read an open letter to the government praising Utah Reps. Jim Matheson and Rob Bishop for voting against the bailout. He called on Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch and Rep. Chris Cannon to vote on the principles found in the Constitution and repeal the bill that Dyches sees as socialist.
“I will do everything in my power to ensure that those who do not listen to their constituencies do not return to Washington,” Kinikini said.
Randall Hinton, a cofounder of the group that promotes voters casting ballots based on constitutional principles, also went through foreclosure and lost his job. But he still disagrees with the current bailout and any future moves to buy bad debt.
“Do not protect me from my choices,” Hinton said. “I will live by the choices I’ve made and I will not ask those who have not made the same choices to bail me out of trouble.”

KSL Article and Video:

On KSL’s Site

Socialism’s Deadly Embrace

If you want to cook a frog, you cannot simply drop it into a pot of boiling water. If the water is too hot it will jump out to escape the pain. But if you place the frog in cool water, and then heat the water slowly, before the frog knows what is happening it has been boiled alive.

The only difference between the given scenarios is that the first was a very sudden change in temperature which the frog instantly recognized and resisted. The second was a very gradual change in which the water ultimately reached the same temperature as the first scenario, but because of the gradual heating the frog grew accustomed to the increased heat and was not alerted to its perilous state until it was to late.

The Boiling Pot – Totalitarianism

This example parallels the encroachment of totalitarianism in the United States. During the cold war there was a vicious example of totalitarianism in the world. The communist governments openly opposed our free-market economy and our close adherence to the principles of self-reliance and individual liberty. There was a general consensus in the US about communism; that it was an enemy of those principles.  And as such, we were easily excited to action whenever there was a communist threat (perceived or real) at home or abroad.

This closely parallels the first instance in the frog example. Today, if a communistic threat were identified, Americans would jump up in opposition. But the reality is we are not likely to be dropped into the turbulent, boiling waters of communism, and be stripped of our liberties in a single blow.

Slowly Warming

But what of the slowly warming frog? Since the advent of the Great Depression we have had the water of socialism slowly warming us and getting us accustomed to the feeling, it’s painful effects increasing over time. The steps taken by Washington during the Great Depression were allowed because of the economic pain that the nation was feeling, and have slowly intensified each decade through additional programs and subsidies. The arguments justifying socialistic encroachment are always aimed at “helping” those who are suffering, but the net result is always bondage and slavery. The pain that is supposed to be averted through socialistic legislation is only temporarily averted at best, and greatly intensified at worst.

These calculated steps have been increased over time until we have been been forced to swallow the late, great “Wall Street Bail-Out Bill”. Many people saw the evil serpent of socialism hiding inside this bill with all it’s many revisions, and urged their representatives to vote against it. But our representatives did not heed our call, instead they spurned the will of the American people and chose to give in to the hype and supposed “expert” council.  We were told that not bailing out wall street would lead to a total meltdown in the market similar to the Great Depression.

You Break It, We’ll Buy It

Now that We The People are the proud owners of this 700 billion dollar debt which Washington orchestrated, what should our reaction be? Will we call for our legislators to revoke the legislation, or will we simply throw up our hands believing there is nothing we can do about it? Will we continue to soak in the turbulently boiling waters of Socialism even longer, preparing us for the final death blow?

It is important to realize that Communists are simply Socialists in a hurry, they prefer bloody, violent transfers of power to give them totalitarian control.  Socialists, on the other hand, attempt to accomplish the same ends through incremental transfers of control to the government through legislative processes. With either route the end result is the same, the power to legally exercise arbitrary control and abuse over the citizens.

What Will It Take?

If we sit idly by and allow this process to continue the citizens of the United States will soon loose all of the freedoms they now enjoy.  This loss happens because we aren’t aware that our rights are being taken from us through continual socialistic abuses.  Many of us don’t realize we’re being boiled!

What must happen in order for you to choose to stand against this perversion of our constitutional principles?  Are you willing to work to restore this great Republic to its former strength and glory?

May we have the strength to break this deathly embrace before it makes a meal of the rest of our liberty.

Billions in Earmarks accompany the “Bail-Out” bill

Billions of dollars in earmarks have been added to the “Bail-Out” bill along with a few structural changes, in order to make it more “Palatable” to the US public. Some of them are the most outrageous items that I have ever seen, very much akin to the “Bridge to Nowhere” bill.

Among the Porky contents of this 451 page bill are:

• $2 million in tax breaks for Manufacturers of Wooden Arrows for Children.
• $100 million in tax breaks for Racetracks.
• $192 million in excise tax rebates for Rum producers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
• $148 million in tax breaks for Wool Fabric manufacturers who use Imported Yarn.
• $49 million in tax breaks to the Plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Oil spill suit.
• $33 million in tax breaks for those who earned income in American Samoa.
• $478 million in tax breaks for Hollywood studios that keep their production here in the US.
• Increasing the FDIC coverage from $100k to $250k

just to name a few. Many said that they voted for the bill simply because the economy was in such a dire situation, and it required help, regardless of the earmarks that tag along with the actual bill.

Let us not decieve ourselves, this bill will just serve to bind us further than we have already found ourselves. So do we wait and stand idly by as our freedoms are continually eroded away, as in this case, through throwing us a bone. Or do we stand up and let our representitives know that they can keep their tainted goods, we don’t want them, we just want our liberty back.

Could the Bail-Out Spell Personal Disaster for YOU?

Which ever way the Federal Government ultimately chooses to deal with the problem of the Wall Street Bail-Out, there are potentially painful days ahead for you and your family.

Washington could decide to let the market work things out naturally, letting banks and other businesses declare bankruptcy and then allowing a short time for the market to adjust and return to a more nominal level. There will still certainly be a term of economic and emotional pain from a few months to a year, possibly longer.

Or the government could decide to arbitrarily bail out the markets and by so doing begin the process of propping up the prices and wages of the nation.  If so, we may find ourselves in for a long ride on the pain train. It may take a little longer but the pain will eventually reach us tax payers. We could experience the same level of hardship (if not greater) than what was experienced during the Great Depression.

In either case it is fundamentally important that you are adequately prepared to deal with either painful situation. We advise that in whatever circumstances you find yourself, that you do whatever it takes to buy your family at minimum a 6 month supply of food.

You may ask, “Why should I get a 6 month supply of food? I can run to the store.  Even if there was a run on the store, I could just run down myself and get enough to last until the store re-opened.”

Let’s talk for a moment about food and the system of credit that it revolves around. We will simplify this a little bit. The Farmer sells his produce to a distributor, but the distributor rather than paying cash for the product, will most likely negotiate terms with the farmer, say 30 day terms (NET30), which gives him 30 days to pay for the produce. Meanwhile, the distributor takes the product and sells it to a retail store, and they likewise desire terms with credit, so they purchase the food on NET15 terms from the distributor. Then the Store sells the produce to the end consumer, they pay off their net15 terms with the Distributor and then the distributor pays off his debt to the farmer. Everyone has profited through the use and extension of private credit.

But what happens if the market is volatile, specifically, that the value of the dollar is inflating at an extremely rapid rate? So quickly in fact that it causes the Farmer to wonder if the dollars he sells his produce for on credit will be worth that much at the end of the 30 days. What then? The same thoughts go through the Distributor’s head; that it makes potentially more economical sense for the farmer to keep his crop rather than sell it. And they all watch as the value of the dollar plummets.

This is a very plausible scenario given the time and circumstances that we live in today. If the Farmer looses faith in the dollar/economy of the US, there is the very real potential of having little to no food on the shelves of our great supermarkets. If such a problem arises (taking months or years to correct), you could be left with nothing to eat simply because you didn’t take the time to adequately prepare.

It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.  It may not be raining now but it certainly is sprinkling! As I said earlier, if you can afford it I highly recommend having at least a 6 month supply of food. Maybe I am totally wrong and the markets will correct themselves, operate optimally, and government will keep its hands off.  But what if that doesn’t happen?  Even if supermarket shelves stay stocked, what if you lost your job because of the economy? At least you would have enough food to sustain your family while you searched for new employment.

THE TIME TO ACT IS YESTERDAY. Avoid as much pain as possible by preparing today for the challenges that tomorrow could bring.  Self-reliance is ALWAYS timely.

If you are interested in growing or acquiring some food storage, I encourage you to contact Joseph’s Storehouse for a professional consultation and advice on what foods are best for you to store.

P.S. Having a little food storage in their homes could have saved lives of many during/after hurricane Katrina who starved to death while they were waiting for someone to rescue themselves from the flood. Don’t become a statistic!

Ron Paul, Opposition to the Bail-out

“Long term, this is disastrous.”

Don’t make the problem worse by encouraging the continued creation of credit. Don’t blame the free markets for this problem. The markets have been regulated throughout the whole creation of the problem.

We must move forward with common sense. Watch the Video.

Sounds like Insider Trading to me!!

Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) gives a stirring and impassioned speech about the effects of the bail-out and her feelings on the inequity that was occurring during the creation/writing of the bill.

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