Alexis D'Tocqueville
Observer of America
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Houston's citizen's take care of themselves...
Mayor White's Amazement
In a press conference given this morning Houston's Mayor, Bill White, expressed amazement at the fact that people in some of Houston's neighborhoods had already come out of their homes to deal with the after-effects of hurricane Ike themselves.
Mayor White noted that in one neighborhood residents did not wait for city maintenance crews to come to their neighborhood to begin the clean-up process. Mayor White said that several neighbors had come out of their homes with chain saws, had cut up downed trees, gathered up scattered debris, and unblocked drainage culverts. They stacked the debris out of the way opening road access and as a result of unblocking the culverts the water levels in the neighborhood has already begun to drop.
Why is it that the Mayor would express amazement that these people would actually take matters into their own hands rather than to helplessly wait in their homes for their government rescuers to clear the roads and open the culverts? Could it be that the Mayor subscribes to the notion that only the government can take care of its otherwise helpless subjects? Such a personal subscription (people are dependent on government to take care of them), would account for the Mayor's amazement.
Though he seemed amazed that these residents would act for themselves, Mayor White seemed genuinely proud of these people. Though they seemed to be able to take care of themselves without government help Mayor White still thought that they needed a bit of government aid and reminded them that it might not be a good idea for them to cut up trees which had power lines entangled in them.
We saw just these sort of private citizen actions taken in Mississippi and Louisiana following the devastation of Katrina. Even as everyone was tossing scathing criticisms at the ineffectiveness of FEMA and local and state officials in coming to their aid, we saw private citizens, not public employees, making a difference in hard-hit communities. Not only were local residents taking matters into their own hands, but several private citizens from neighboring states came to help their fellows in time of need. Just as we see in Houston now, we saw private citizens then taking up chain saws and clearing neighborhoods of fallen trees and debris, which were blocking the roads.
It still seems that not all of the People are yet totally dependent on government in all areas of their lives; the People still retain the capacity to help themselves...to Mayor White's amazement.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
We the Servants...McCain the Statist!
We’ve heard a lot of talk from Obama about change in Washington and McCain has recently taken up that mantra, though he calls it reform.
As I watched the Presidential Candidate Forum on Public Service this evening, during which both McCain and Obama took turns lecturing the American People on their duty to serve their nation, (as I recall the government is the servant of the People, not the other way around–which just goes to show that our politicians think of themselves as our masters), I came to the inescapable conclusion that Joseph Farah is right. We ought not to vote for John McCain under any circumstance. I had already decided not to vote for him beforehand, but listening to John McCain speak at the forum definitely removed any lingering doubt.
Judy Woodruff asked McCain what he would have done on 9/11/2001 to keep the memory of that day, and the spirit and determination of the American People to serve and safeguard their nation, alive to this instant date. Apparently Sen. McCain has not only joined Sen. Obama in the “change” mantra, but he has adopted Obama’s call for a civilian national Praetorian Guard.
McCain said that he would have had the government create new organizations, such as a Neighborhood Watch organization, to patrol the nation and to guard nuclear facilities. Apparently Sen. McCain is unaware that such an organization already existed throughout the nation prior to 2001, and therefore needed no federal government creation . The organization, by the way, was coincidentally called Neighborhood Watch!
McCain went on to say that in those good old days of American unity he would have proposed legislation of service to country. Just what the form of that service would have been he did not say. One can only imagine. But the point is that he seems to think that the American People were so afraid post-9/11 and so united from that sense of fear that they were ripe to be “lead”(manipulated) into accepting a demand from the federal government in the form of legislation that they must serve the government.
McCain continued by explaining just what some of those organizations would be that he would have created, or rather have expanded, to counteract the terrorists and to keep America safe from future attack. He said he would have expanded AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps!
I am sure that we all would have slept so much better knowing that thousands more of our citizens were swelling the ranks of these organizations to secure us against further terrorist attack! But, when McCain went on with his next line his comment about expanding AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps as the front line of our national war on terrorism the thought in my mind of just how foolish this man sounded was immediately replaced with dreadful thoughts. The thoughts evoked when a statist speaks.
McCain said that we need to also expand the military, this in the context of national service!
When McCain was asked in turn about what he thought the solutions were to assuage the feelings of the American People that the nation is headed in the wrong direction and what he felt were the Citizens’ obligations to the state, beyond paying their taxes, McCain again offered the solution: military expansion accomplished by inspiring the American People to face the challenges we face as a nation. What are those challenges? McCain mentioned Afghanistan and Georgia, but we can presumably add Iran and Iraq to that list, as well. So, the principal kind of “service” that McCain wants to inspire the People to volunteer for is military service, which will expand the military and allow McCain to continue U.S. military adventurism and intervention throughout the world.
In the alternative, I suppose that McCain would be just as satisfied if the People served in Neighborhood Watch, AmeriCorps, or the Peace Corps instead of the military. He may well reason that if the volunteers in these organizations can defeat the terrorists at home by patrolling the block or standing guard in front of nuclear power facilities that they are just as fit to be deployed across the world to take out the likes of the Iranians or Russian military.
McCain then waxed nostalgic about just what the federal government was able to accomplish back in 2001 when the American People were sufficiently pliable. He lauded the fact that the federal government was able to bring about the “biggest reorganization of government”, and with it the greatest expansion of government power, made possible by the American Peoples’ unity at that time. McCain said that to bring about such change again the American People just need to be inspired again.
Just what was that “inspiration” McCain is talking about? I seem to remember that “inspiration” being fear, anger, and a sense of vulnerability. So, all that need happen for the People to once again be “inspired” to expand the military by serving (as fodder for U.S. aggression), thus enabling a President McCain to war against Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Russia, is for the American People to be made to feel angry, fearful, and vulnerable once again. Not only will the People be willing to look the other way at expanded Executive power and the diminution of their civil liberties, but they will dutifully submit themselves as servants to the government!
McCain went on to crow about the needed reform he had already has, as the maverick he is, brought to Washington. What was that reform? McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform, which legislation just happened to be an overt assault on political freedom of speech, which assault serves to give the advantage to incumbent politicians who are standing for re-election.
McCain’s idea of reform in Washington, then, is one of an expanded military and massive government reorganization (expanded government power), and protection and insulation for incumbent politicians, made possible by “inspiring” the People again through feelings of fear, anger, and a sense of vulnerability, to serve their government (masters) by flocking into military service.
Given what I have heard from John McCain’s mouth tonight, I call upon my fellow citizens to volunteer for the most important public service that you could possibly perform in defense of this nation. That public service is in withholding your vote from both John McCain and Barack Obama. Neither one of them is deserving of our votes.
In fact, I call on you all to go one step more in your national service by running all incumbent politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, out of Washington by withholding your votes from them when they stand for re-election. That is the real change/reform we need!
We’ve heard a lot of talk from Obama about change in Washington and McCain has recently taken up that mantra, though he calls it reform.
As I watched the Presidential Candidate Forum on Public Service this evening, during which both McCain and Obama took turns lecturing the American People on their duty to serve their nation, (as I recall the government is the servant of the People, not the other way around–which just goes to show that our politicians think of themselves as our masters), I came to the inescapable conclusion that Joseph Farah is right. We ought not to vote for John McCain under any circumstance. I had already decided not to vote for him beforehand, but listening to John McCain speak at the forum definitely removed any lingering doubt.
Judy Woodruff asked McCain what he would have done on 9/11/2001 to keep the memory of that day, and the spirit and determination of the American People to serve and safeguard their nation, alive to this instant date. Apparently Sen. McCain has not only joined Sen. Obama in the “change” mantra, but he has adopted Obama’s call for a civilian national Praetorian Guard.
McCain said that he would have had the government create new organizations, such as a Neighborhood Watch organization, to patrol the nation and to guard nuclear facilities. Apparently Sen. McCain is unaware that such an organization already existed throughout the nation prior to 2001, and therefore needed no federal government creation . The organization, by the way, was coincidentally called Neighborhood Watch!
McCain went on to say that in those good old days of American unity he would have proposed legislation of service to country. Just what the form of that service would have been he did not say. One can only imagine. But the point is that he seems to think that the American People were so afraid post-9/11 and so united from that sense of fear that they were ripe to be “lead”(manipulated) into accepting a demand from the federal government in the form of legislation that they must serve the government.
McCain continued by explaining just what some of those organizations would be that he would have created, or rather have expanded, to counteract the terrorists and to keep America safe from future attack. He said he would have expanded AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps!
I am sure that we all would have slept so much better knowing that thousands more of our citizens were swelling the ranks of these organizations to secure us against further terrorist attack! But, when McCain went on with his next line his comment about expanding AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps as the front line of our national war on terrorism the thought in my mind of just how foolish this man sounded was immediately replaced with dreadful thoughts. The thoughts evoked when a statist speaks.
McCain said that we need to also expand the military, this in the context of national service!
When McCain was asked in turn about what he thought the solutions were to assuage the feelings of the American People that the nation is headed in the wrong direction and what he felt were the Citizens’ obligations to the state, beyond paying their taxes, McCain again offered the solution: military expansion accomplished by inspiring the American People to face the challenges we face as a nation. What are those challenges? McCain mentioned Afghanistan and Georgia, but we can presumably add Iran and Iraq to that list, as well. So, the principal kind of “service” that McCain wants to inspire the People to volunteer for is military service, which will expand the military and allow McCain to continue U.S. military adventurism and intervention throughout the world.
In the alternative, I suppose that McCain would be just as satisfied if the People served in Neighborhood Watch, AmeriCorps, or the Peace Corps instead of the military. He may well reason that if the volunteers in these organizations can defeat the terrorists at home by patrolling the block or standing guard in front of nuclear power facilities that they are just as fit to be deployed across the world to take out the likes of the Iranians or Russian military.
McCain then waxed nostalgic about just what the federal government was able to accomplish back in 2001 when the American People were sufficiently pliable. He lauded the fact that the federal government was able to bring about the “biggest reorganization of government”, and with it the greatest expansion of government power, made possible by the American Peoples’ unity at that time. McCain said that to bring about such change again the American People just need to be inspired again.
Just what was that “inspiration” McCain is talking about? I seem to remember that “inspiration” being fear, anger, and a sense of vulnerability. So, all that need happen for the People to once again be “inspired” to expand the military by serving (as fodder for U.S. aggression), thus enabling a President McCain to war against Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Russia, is for the American People to be made to feel angry, fearful, and vulnerable once again. Not only will the People be willing to look the other way at expanded Executive power and the diminution of their civil liberties, but they will dutifully submit themselves as servants to the government!
McCain went on to crow about the needed reform he had already has, as the maverick he is, brought to Washington. What was that reform? McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform, which legislation just happened to be an overt assault on political freedom of speech, which assault serves to give the advantage to incumbent politicians who are standing for re-election.
McCain’s idea of reform in Washington, then, is one of an expanded military and massive government reorganization (expanded government power), and protection and insulation for incumbent politicians, made possible by “inspiring” the People again through feelings of fear, anger, and a sense of vulnerability, to serve their government (masters) by flocking into military service.
Given what I have heard from John McCain’s mouth tonight, I call upon my fellow citizens to volunteer for the most important public service that you could possibly perform in defense of this nation. That public service is in withholding your vote from both John McCain and Barack Obama. Neither one of them is deserving of our votes.
In fact, I call on you all to go one step more in your national service by running all incumbent politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, out of Washington by withholding your votes from them when they stand for re-election. That is the real change/reform we need!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Federal Reserve System - by a Poet!
By Dennis Siluk Ed.D.
To be honest, I don't think many people know what the Federal Reserve is. I worked for a bank many years ago for eleven years total, had to go to the Federal Reserve now and then, and even the folks working in the so called System, didn't know the workings of it, they just worked for it (I'm talking about the years between 1982 to 1993). I'm not all that smart about it either but I do know a few things, that I really do not like knowing about it. And to get off of my poetry for an evening, for I am a better poet than a economist, or article writer, I think so anyways, I thought I'd write a paragraph or two about it. Two may do.
Who owns the Federal Reserve? Can you buy stock in it? How did it come into existence? Is it really a reserve? Is it really a system? These are simple questions, nobody asks, perhaps the reason being, nobody really has the right answers, and where do you get them, not in Economics 101, or 701. I will answer them for you in my own way, and you can believe it or not. The Federal Reserve is owned basically by five families in America. In essence, the FRS is the central bank of or for, America, and since 1914, no one out side of the five families could buy stock in it. They have the monopoly on it. It doesn't sound fair, but that's the way it is.
A reserve bank they say it is? I don't think so. They print money, not reserve it, and they print what they want, and somehow try to keep inflation down, buy printing without discrimination.
China and Japan own so much of our money, should they dump it on the world, it would take a million dollars to buy a new car that now cost $26,000-inflation would sink America back into the dark ages. If you are asking why they buy it in the first place, it is because they want to do business with us. I doubt you will find this information in your economic books, so don't waste your time; it is behind the doors stuff. Again I say, we had a taste of the Federal Reserve System, in the 1920s with hyperinflation, guess who was the creators of that, you got it, the FRS.
This so called group I'm talking about has total control of the money, it almost sounds criminal, but the government has passed laws protecting these investors, whom nobody can subdue. It is clear to see, in future time, our paper currency, with our national debt, breaking the ankles of the American society as it is today. I'm surprised it has lasted this long.
Last but not least, the Federal Reserve System is not a system in the terms of what a system is considered being, that is, an organization by the government, although it is blessed by the government. It is a scheme that was put together in 1913, and activated in 1914, and became an organism of these five families, and has remained so ever since, and in their hands.
Actually, this would make for a good book, but I'm a poet, and this just would not fit into a poem, except perhaps "Black Sunday."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Siluk_Ed.D.
Dennis Siluk Ed.D. - EzineArticles Expert Author
To be honest, I don't think many people know what the Federal Reserve is. I worked for a bank many years ago for eleven years total, had to go to the Federal Reserve now and then, and even the folks working in the so called System, didn't know the workings of it, they just worked for it (I'm talking about the years between 1982 to 1993). I'm not all that smart about it either but I do know a few things, that I really do not like knowing about it. And to get off of my poetry for an evening, for I am a better poet than a economist, or article writer, I think so anyways, I thought I'd write a paragraph or two about it. Two may do.
Who owns the Federal Reserve? Can you buy stock in it? How did it come into existence? Is it really a reserve? Is it really a system? These are simple questions, nobody asks, perhaps the reason being, nobody really has the right answers, and where do you get them, not in Economics 101, or 701. I will answer them for you in my own way, and you can believe it or not. The Federal Reserve is owned basically by five families in America. In essence, the FRS is the central bank of or for, America, and since 1914, no one out side of the five families could buy stock in it. They have the monopoly on it. It doesn't sound fair, but that's the way it is.
A reserve bank they say it is? I don't think so. They print money, not reserve it, and they print what they want, and somehow try to keep inflation down, buy printing without discrimination.
China and Japan own so much of our money, should they dump it on the world, it would take a million dollars to buy a new car that now cost $26,000-inflation would sink America back into the dark ages. If you are asking why they buy it in the first place, it is because they want to do business with us. I doubt you will find this information in your economic books, so don't waste your time; it is behind the doors stuff. Again I say, we had a taste of the Federal Reserve System, in the 1920s with hyperinflation, guess who was the creators of that, you got it, the FRS.
This so called group I'm talking about has total control of the money, it almost sounds criminal, but the government has passed laws protecting these investors, whom nobody can subdue. It is clear to see, in future time, our paper currency, with our national debt, breaking the ankles of the American society as it is today. I'm surprised it has lasted this long.
Last but not least, the Federal Reserve System is not a system in the terms of what a system is considered being, that is, an organization by the government, although it is blessed by the government. It is a scheme that was put together in 1913, and activated in 1914, and became an organism of these five families, and has remained so ever since, and in their hands.
Actually, this would make for a good book, but I'm a poet, and this just would not fit into a poem, except perhaps "Black Sunday."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Siluk_Ed.D.
Dennis Siluk Ed.D. - EzineArticles Expert Author
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Federalist, No. 7
Monday, May 5, 2008
Say What! Hillary and Economics---Free Gas or Gasbag?
By now, I am sure that Hillary Clinton's "scheme" to save us poor consumers at the pump from the avarice of the big, bad oil companies has been thoroughly sliced and diced on the political blogs. I won't go into a detailed debunking of Hillary's plan, other than to state the obvious: Hillary is full of it!
The basics of her "scheme" are that she proposes to suspend the federal tax on gasoline so that we consumers won't have to pay it at the pump and then have the big oil companies pay the tax themselves. That should fatten our wallets, give us a chance to fill up the tank, and to pay off the entire national debt at the same time, right? Wrong!
What Hillary fails to understand about economics (her judgment being clouded by the fog of politics), and the way businesses do business, is that a cost incurred by a business is usually passed along to consumers in the price they pay for the good or service that the business is providing! The federal gasoline tax is not a cost that Big Oil is incurring and therefore adding on to each gallon of gas because Big Oil is not currently paying the tax as a cost to its business! It is big, bad federal government which is adding that cost to the price of a gallon of gasoline, not big, bad oil companies!
So, what exactly will happen to the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump if the payment of the tax is shifted off the consumer and onto Big Oil? The price will stay the same! That is because Big Oil will add the cost of the tax it is paying into the price it charges for the delivery of a gallon of gasoline to the wholesalers, who will in turn factor that cost into their retail price at the pump. And who will end up paying the cost of the tax reflected in the price? The consumer!
Tom Firey, the author of the article linked below, sums up the effect of Hillary's illogic nicely when he writes:
"Because she intends for the windfall profits tax to generate the same revenue as the gas tax, the windfall profits tax will have the same effect on gasoline supply, demand, and price as the current gas tax. The only difference is that the gas tax is transparent to consumers while the windfall profits tax is not. Voilà — the gas tax seems to disappear, but gas prices stay the same and the government still gets its money."
But, Alas! I mistake! For, not only will the price of a gallon of gas remain the same thanks be to the federal government for adding to its increase by imposing the federal gasoline tax; but through its inflationary policies, the federal government will assure us that the price of gasoline will continue to rise as the purchasing power of our devaluing currency continues to fall!
What Hillary is proposing is a shell game, smoke and mirrors! And in the end, as with all shell games, it is the sucker (consumer) and not the con-artist (politician) who gets taken!
Anyway, here is Mr. Firey's complete article on the subject, with a nice analysis of the factors influencing the price of gasoline. Please read it here at Cato Institute.
The basics of her "scheme" are that she proposes to suspend the federal tax on gasoline so that we consumers won't have to pay it at the pump and then have the big oil companies pay the tax themselves. That should fatten our wallets, give us a chance to fill up the tank, and to pay off the entire national debt at the same time, right? Wrong!
What Hillary fails to understand about economics (her judgment being clouded by the fog of politics), and the way businesses do business, is that a cost incurred by a business is usually passed along to consumers in the price they pay for the good or service that the business is providing! The federal gasoline tax is not a cost that Big Oil is incurring and therefore adding on to each gallon of gas because Big Oil is not currently paying the tax as a cost to its business! It is big, bad federal government which is adding that cost to the price of a gallon of gasoline, not big, bad oil companies!
So, what exactly will happen to the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump if the payment of the tax is shifted off the consumer and onto Big Oil? The price will stay the same! That is because Big Oil will add the cost of the tax it is paying into the price it charges for the delivery of a gallon of gasoline to the wholesalers, who will in turn factor that cost into their retail price at the pump. And who will end up paying the cost of the tax reflected in the price? The consumer!
Tom Firey, the author of the article linked below, sums up the effect of Hillary's illogic nicely when he writes:
"Because she intends for the windfall profits tax to generate the same revenue as the gas tax, the windfall profits tax will have the same effect on gasoline supply, demand, and price as the current gas tax. The only difference is that the gas tax is transparent to consumers while the windfall profits tax is not. Voilà — the gas tax seems to disappear, but gas prices stay the same and the government still gets its money."
But, Alas! I mistake! For, not only will the price of a gallon of gas remain the same thanks be to the federal government for adding to its increase by imposing the federal gasoline tax; but through its inflationary policies, the federal government will assure us that the price of gasoline will continue to rise as the purchasing power of our devaluing currency continues to fall!
What Hillary is proposing is a shell game, smoke and mirrors! And in the end, as with all shell games, it is the sucker (consumer) and not the con-artist (politician) who gets taken!
Anyway, here is Mr. Firey's complete article on the subject, with a nice analysis of the factors influencing the price of gasoline. Please read it here at Cato Institute.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Pulling a Tiger Out of the Hat
In a recent article, Gary North compares Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke to a master illusionist, practicing sleight of hand. Mr. North writes :
"The illusionist relies on his ability to get the audience to look at one thing while he manipulates something else.
The stage illusionist doesn't harm anyone. Any illusionist who harmed people would be written out of the guild. That's why the Federal Reserve has never been able to gain membership, despite its consummate mastery at getting the audience to look somewhere else than where the FED is doing the manipulating."
The illusionist draws away his audience's attention by means of clever distraction. According to Mr. North, this is just what Chairman Bernanke and the Fed have been doing! They have been framing the current economic crisis in terms of liquidity, when the real issue is insolvency! Mr. North continues:
"The FED is not supplying the banking system with liquidity. It is instead providing public band-aids for banks facing insolvency or at least a contraction of their lending ability due to reduced balance sheets. The FED is trying to persuade decision-makers in an illiquid commercial banking system that the FED stands ready to bail out any toppling firm whose bankruptcy threatens the entire payments system with gridlock. This is what Greenspan a decade ago called cascading cross defaults."
This is the very point that Chris Klein was making with his article I posted here, and which can be found in more detail on his blog Wreckonomics.
Mr. North's article can be found in its entirety here.
This current crisis goes beyond the shores of the good 'ol U.S.A., as well. For an international flavor, I encourage you to check out this article. The level of state secrecy shows just how dangerous and fragile the current situation is. There are murmurings being sent out from the halls of power here, amplified by the lackey press, that all is well. The storm has been weathered and safe harbor is in sight. But, don't be fooled! It is just another illusionary sleight of hand!
P.S. As a point of reference when you read the figures in the article from England, where the number given is in pounds double that number to arrive at roughly the dollar equivalent (e.g., 50bn pounds is roughly equal to 100bn dollars, where bn=billion).
"The illusionist relies on his ability to get the audience to look at one thing while he manipulates something else.
The stage illusionist doesn't harm anyone. Any illusionist who harmed people would be written out of the guild. That's why the Federal Reserve has never been able to gain membership, despite its consummate mastery at getting the audience to look somewhere else than where the FED is doing the manipulating."
The illusionist draws away his audience's attention by means of clever distraction. According to Mr. North, this is just what Chairman Bernanke and the Fed have been doing! They have been framing the current economic crisis in terms of liquidity, when the real issue is insolvency! Mr. North continues:
"The FED is not supplying the banking system with liquidity. It is instead providing public band-aids for banks facing insolvency or at least a contraction of their lending ability due to reduced balance sheets. The FED is trying to persuade decision-makers in an illiquid commercial banking system that the FED stands ready to bail out any toppling firm whose bankruptcy threatens the entire payments system with gridlock. This is what Greenspan a decade ago called cascading cross defaults."
This is the very point that Chris Klein was making with his article I posted here, and which can be found in more detail on his blog Wreckonomics.
Mr. North's article can be found in its entirety here.
This current crisis goes beyond the shores of the good 'ol U.S.A., as well. For an international flavor, I encourage you to check out this article. The level of state secrecy shows just how dangerous and fragile the current situation is. There are murmurings being sent out from the halls of power here, amplified by the lackey press, that all is well. The storm has been weathered and safe harbor is in sight. But, don't be fooled! It is just another illusionary sleight of hand!
P.S. As a point of reference when you read the figures in the article from England, where the number given is in pounds double that number to arrive at roughly the dollar equivalent (e.g., 50bn pounds is roughly equal to 100bn dollars, where bn=billion).
Friday, May 2, 2008
Federalist, No.6
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