Hope This Ad Goes Viral

Click on the title. Or go to

http://cftr.org

JP

Bell, Book'em Danno

So I’m watching the news last night, and then read about it in the Wall Street Journal how those thugs from Bell, California have been indicted for raiding the public treasury. And I say to myself, how on earth did the idiot citizens in that small town allow that to happen? Was not anyone minding the store?

Then I got to thinking--when was the last time I attended a city council meeting?  About twenty years ago, probably more.

 Hmmm.

Guess I’m one of those idiot citizens.

JP

What Tea Party?

I don’t know a single person who is active in the Tea Party movement. I have yet to carry a banner, or wave a flag, or attend a town hall meeting. On the other hand, I don’t know a single person of my acquaintance who does not subscribe to what the Tea Party folks stand for: Smaller government, less taxes, less spending, reduce the debt, balance the budget, and in many cases, throw the bums out who got us into this mess in the first place.

I know this is anecdotal evidence, but it seems to me that for every active Tea Party member there are ten, maybe twenty, hell maybe even one hundred citizens lurking in the shadows with the same views. I think that is the real power of the movement--aside from the active ones who are raising Cain, that there is a huge, ticked off electorate who will make themselves heard come November. We are mad as hell and we are going to be heard loud and clear.

How else can you explain the stunning losses to the liberal agenda in Virginia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Alaska, and Delaware? Conservative voters seemed to come out of the woodwork. I personally think we haven’t seen anything yet.

All it took was nearly two years of an Administration and Congress completely out of sync with the folks in Flyover County.  Its about time.

JP

Money, Money, Money, Its a Rich Man's World

Economics and economic policies have always been way over my head. That is, until I started thinking about them from a kitchen table perspective and doing a little research. You may have noticed I included a quote box over to the right, showing the price of gold and silver. Here’s why.

Think of the United States as a giant corporation. It provides goods and services to all of its shareholders (that’s us, folks). It is a not-for-profit corporation that issues shares to the shareholders in the form of dollars. Every dollar we own is a share, and they are easily traded on a day to day basis for the things we need. The US Treasury makes sure there are enough of these shares floating around to satisfy their demand.

Now, suppose a regular Corporation wants to raise some additional cash. They decide to issue some more shares. Of course, when they do that, the value of all the shares decreases by some factor. In stock market terms, the shares are diluted, which is a fancy way of saying each share is not worth as much.

The giant corporation called the U.S. Government is constantly issuing new shares, keeping the Treasury’s printing presses humming. From September 2008 through August 2010, they increased the supply of dollars from  1458.5 billion to 1745.6 billion, a whopping increase of over 19%. Put another way, each dollar has been diluted by 19%. Put yet another way, the dollar in your hand has decreased in value. But it is not quite that simple, because I have only used the M-1 supply figures, that only include currency and demand deposits like checking accounts. A more complete picture emerges when you look at the M-2 supply figures, which include M-1 plus a whole slew of other cash holdings. Using M-2, the dilution drops to around 9.6 %, much better, but still nearly a 10% loss in two years.

In the same period, the value of gold has gone from around $725 an ounce to about $1250 an ounce. This is a 72.4 % increase in the value. So what would you have preferred to hold over the past two years--dollars that have  been diluted nearly 10% or gold that has shot up over 72 percent? I imagine you have heard the derisive term applied to those who accumulate gold as being “gold bugs.” Looks to me like those folks are on to something. 

Source: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/current
September 16, 2010

JP

A Dose of Reality

A recent article in the Washington Times of September 14th was written by the following authors:

R. James Woolsey was director of central intelligence under President Clinton. Andrew C. McCarthy was the assistant U.S.  attorney who prosecuted the perpetrators of the first attack on the World Trade Center. Lt. Gen. Harry E. "Ed" Soyster was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1988 to 1991. Their full report is available online at ShariahtheThreat.com 

These guys are not lightweights, nor are they alarmists--but they do illuminate the reality of the nature of our opponents. 

View article by clicking on the title above or the link below.                   

These concerned Americans make a compelling case. Wake up, America!

JP



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/14/needed-a-second-opinion-on-shariah/

The Most Dangerous Man in the World

                   
Many believe that Osama bin Laden qualifies for that role. Others point out the ravings of Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put him at the top of the list. Somewhere, a Taliban leader is vying for that position. But these guys are amateurs when it comes to dangerous men. The most dangerous man in the world today is...

 Mr Barack Hussein Obama.

He presents a clear and present danger to the world as a whole because he is busy taking apart the country that has provided the institutions, leadership, and clout that have, if imperfectly, kept the world’s nations from tearing each other to pieces over the past sixty or so years. 

In the space of less than two years, he has

1. Denied that world leadership role and apologized for the way we exercised that leadership in the past.
2. Taken over 2/3ds of our classic Auto industry by illegal means.
3. Taken over several of the world’s largest banking institutions.
4. Taken over the entire U.S. Health industry.
5. Taken over the entire U.S. Housing industry by nationalizing Fannie and Freddie which control nearly 100% of mortgages.
6. Taken over the entire U.S. Financial institutions via the Financial Reform bill.
7. Controlled the entire Energy sector by bureaucratic fiat when his Cap and Trade legislation stalled in the Senate.
8. Piled government debt upon government debt to levels that approach that of Greece, setting up our country for financial collapse.

The list goes on and on. Harassment of States who dare assert States Rights. Denigration of political opponents on a daily and personal basis. Playing the race card at every opportunity. Advancing class warfare at every turn.

We have to put some restraints on this guy before he completely destroys our country. The only way to do so is by electing those who will stand up to him, his administration, and his pit bulls in Congress. If we cannot restrain him,  just imagine what this dangerous man can do to us in the next two years. And he will, if we don’t act now.

JP

Simple Pleasures for Simple Folks

Earlier this year, my two sons, my brother, and I found ourselves sitting around a campfire in the high country of Wyoming. (See Four Horsemen, above) The end of a perfect day of fishing. The riding and pack horses were set out to graze in the beautiful alpine meadow that surrounded our campsite. We got to talking politics, as we often do, slowly sipping some nice whiskey cut with ice cold mountain stream water. Our guide, a thirty-something young man whip thin and tough as shoe leather was enjoying our ramblings. Of course, we were bitching about the sorry state of politics. We got on the subject of California and the economic crisis facing that state, and how someday it may implode from its own left wing insanity.

I asked our guide a theoretical question, “What if everything goes to hell in California and the gangs and other low life bums from Los Angeles come looking for food here in Wyoming?”

After a moment’s contemplation he answered, “Well, I guess we would just shoot them.”

Man, do I ever love living in Flyover Country.



JP