The Forgotten Right

 by Tom Mullen

“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If ‘Thou shalt not covet’ and ‘Thou shalt not steal’ were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free.”

– John Adams (1787)[1]

It is starting to become apparent to even the most disinterested observer that something much bigger than even a worldwide recession is happening. The seeds of revolution have taken root. Iceland led the way by taking to the streets to force regime change through peaceful demonstration. The French are currently protesting en masse against their government’s bailout of the banking system. One would be naïve to think that these are isolated incidents. It is apparent that these are just early warning signs of a worldwide cauldron that is about to boil over, catalyzed by the financial and economic cataclysm that will plunge untold millions into poverty and desperation.

While I applaud the peaceful demonstrations going on in France and Iceland, I also recognize that they are premature. As did Americans in the last election cycle, these Europeans are demanding “change.” However, also like Americans in the last election cycle, they have failed to first answer the crucial questions, “From what? To what?” They have not looked within to assess who they are, what their society is, and what they want it to be. Therefore, they run the risk of simply replacing one oppressive tyranny for another.

Likewise, we will never regain our freedom in America until we address the fundamental problem in our society. I say “the problem,” because at the root of all of what we perceive as a myriad of problems, including the police state, the welfare state, the warfare state, the military industrial complex, the Wall Street oligopoly, the high cost of healthcare and education – everything – there is one philosophical problem that ultimately leads to them all: the repudiation of property rights.

It is likely difficult for most 21st century Americans to absorb this statement, based upon the fact that they have been told now for generations that property is about greed, that accumulating property is oppression, or even that “property is theft.” However, let us look back at the philosophers who inspired our founders and see what they have to say about property. Of course, as I have written here, the primary philosophical basis for the American Revolution came from Locke. What did Locke have to say about the purpose of government?

““The great and chief end, therefore, of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property.”[2]

Certainly this statement must be startling to most 21st century Americans, who believe that they are supposed to look to their government to fight unemployment, manage the economy, ensure access to healthcare, promote democracy abroad, and pursue a myriad of other ends outside of protecting property. Surely, Locke has over-emphasized property rights here, has he not? Certainly he is alone in his simplistic assessment of the role of government, is he not?

He is not. In seeking guidance on how to construct our government, the American founders also looked to the ancients, particularly the Roman Republic. There, we find Cicero writing,

“For the chief purpose in the establishment of constitutional state and municipal governments was that individual property rights might be secured. For, although it was by Nature's guidance that men were drawn together into communities, it was in the hope of safeguarding their possessions that they sought the protection of cities.”[3] [emphasis added]

The conditioned response of Americans today is to view these ideas as a defense of one class of people at the expense of another. We have been trained to associate “property” as a concern of the “property class,” or in more common American terms, “the haves,” as opposed to the “have nots.” This is a great deception that has lead directly to our ruin. In fact, it is the poor and those of modest means for whom property rights are most important. It is they who, not possessing significant material wealth, must all the more jealously guard the property that they do have. In the end, however, we are all property owners when one considers the most fundamental, most important property of all: our labor itself.

We learn from Locke that all property has its roots in labor. In order to survive, man must work to produce the means of his survival. This is true for people no matter what their financial circumstances. The doctor, the lawyer, the construction worker, the janitor – yes, even the Wall Street financier – must sell his efforts to his fellow man in order to acquire the means of his survival. Therefore, whoever has control over the individual’s labor has control over the individual’s life, and control over the individual’s future. If I steal all of your possessions, you can acquire more. However, if I appropriate your labor, I own all of the property you can ever or will ever acquire. This is an undeniable reality that we have lost sight of, to our peril.

America was founded upon the idea that each individual had an unqualified right to the fruits of his labor.[4] This more than anything was what the founders meant when they spoke the word “liberty.” It was the extent to which this right was respected that made America different than every other society in history, before or since. This was the great secret that made America the engine of prosperity and innovation that it was. This is what made America the land of opportunity to change one’s lot in life. It was this right that gave birth to the American dream.

However, we no longer hold this right up above all others. Instead, we have become a society that is based upon competing groups seeking to plunder each other via the force of government. The rich plunder their neighbors with corporate bailouts, subsidies, and regulatory fascism. The middle class plunder their neighbors with Social Security, Medicare, and criminal unions. The poor are forced to accept legal plunder that they do not want and which provides them with the most miserable quality of life, when the stolen capital that underwrites it could employ them all if it weren’t seized from its rightful owners. Of course, these examples are only the tip of the iceberg; there is much, much more. Virtually every political movement in America is based upon a promise to provide its followers with other people’s property.

This scenario is neither unprecedented nor has it been unrecognized by the great lights of liberty. Bastiat wrote,

“Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter — by peaceful or revolutionary means — into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it.”[5]

This vision of Bastiat’s has become reality in America. However, it cannot go on forever. Fortunately for humanity, a society based upon legal plunder is ultimately unsustainable. Just as respect for property rights provides the means to prosperity, violation of them leads to poverty and want. As force replaces voluntary exchange, productivity decreases, and subsequently more force is required to plunder even more. This cycle repeats until society is reduced to an authoritarian nightmare, the first signs of which are becoming apparent in the former “land of the free.” If the people wake up, the nightmare can end. If they continue to slumber, the nightmare can get much, much worse.

This is the great truth that we must rediscover before any revolution can be successful. Before we commit to “change,” we must answer the questions, “From what? To What?” The answers to those questions must be “from a nation of looters to a nation of free individuals who acquire property in the only civilized manner: via voluntary exchange." We must reject the use of force as the means to pursue our happiness, and renew our faith in freedom. Once this great work has been accomplished, let the revolution begin.

Check out Tom Mullen’s new book, A Return to Common Sense: Reawakening Liberty in the Inhabitants of America. Right Here!

[1] Adams, John A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1787)
[2] Locke Second Treatise Ch. IX, Sec. 124
[3]Cicero, Marcus Tullius De Officiis Book II Chapter XXI
[4] “Individuals” who were included in the system. Of course, the founders recognized but did not remedy the obvious contradiction to this inherent in slavery.
[5] Bastiat, Frederic, The Law

Live Free or Die.....

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/HCR0006.html

WOW worth a read....I hope other states do the same...

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine

A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 1, Article 7 declares that the people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled; and

Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 2, Article 1 declares that the people inhabiting the territory formerly called the province of New Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other, to form themselves into a free, sovereign and independent body-politic, or State, by the name of The State of New Hampshire; and

Whereas the State of New Hampshire when ratifying the Constitution for the United States of America recommended as a change, “First That it be Explicitly declared that all Powers not expressly & particularly Delegated by the aforesaid are reserved to the several States to be, by them Exercised;” and

Whereas the other States that included recommendations, to wit Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia, included an identical or similar recommended change; and

Whereas these recommended changes were incorporated as the ninth amendment, the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people, and the tenth amendment, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people, to the Constitution for the United States of America; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, -- delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force; that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress; and

That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, slavery, and no other crimes whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” therefore all acts of Congress which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution are altogether void, and of no force; and that the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to the respective States, each within its own territory; and

That it is true as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people;” and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States or the people: that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also they guarded against all abridgment by the United States of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same. And that in addition to this general principle and express declaration, another and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press:” thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press: insomuch, that whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the others, and that libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognizance of federal tribunals. That, therefore, all acts of Congress of the United States which do abridge the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, are not law, but are altogether void, and of no force; and

That the construction applied by the General Government (as is evidenced by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress a power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,” and “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof,” goes to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their power by the Constitution: that words meant by the instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of that instrument: that the proceedings of the General Government under color of these articles, will be a fit and necessary subject of revisal and correction; and

That a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States; to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and union which it has manifested from that moment at which a common danger first suggested a common union: that it considers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly to those specified in their federal compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States: that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservation: that it does also believe, that to take from the States all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or prosperity of these States; and that therefore this State is determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of men on earth: that in cases of an abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the General Government, being chosen by the people, a change by the people would be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non foederis), to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits: that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them: that nevertheless, this State, from motives of regard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communicate with them on the subject: that with them alone it is proper to communicate, they alone being parties to the compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort of the powers exercised under it, Congress being not a party, but merely the creature of the compact, and subject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgment of those by whom, and for whose use itself and its powers were all created and modified: that if the acts before specified should stand, these conclusions would flow from them: that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism -- free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power: that our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no further, our confidence may go. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That this State does therefore call on its co-States for an expression of their sentiments on acts not authorized by the federal compact. And it doubts not that their sense will be so announced as to prove their attachment unaltered to limited government, whether general or particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur with this State in considering acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undisguised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the measure of the powers of the General Government, but that it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all powers whatsoever: that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States, and consolidating them in the hands of the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the States, not merely as the cases made federal, (casus foederis,) but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but by others against their consent: that this would be to surrender the form of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not made federal, will concur in declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Government not plainly and intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories; and

That the said committee be authorized to communicate by writing or personal conferences, at any times or places whatever, with any person or person who may be appointed by any one or more co-States to correspond or confer with them; and that they lay their proceedings before the next session of the General Court; and

That any Act by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of United States of America by the Constitution for the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of the any of the several States or their citizens shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States of America by the government of the United States of America. Acts which would cause such a nullification include, but are not limited to:

I. Establishing martial law or a state of emergency within one of the States comprising the United States of America without the consent of the legislature of that State.

II. Requiring involuntary servitude, or governmental service other than a draft during a declared war, or pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.

III. Requiring involuntary servitude or governmental service of persons under the age of 18 other than pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.

IV. Surrendering any power delegated or not delegated to any corporation or foreign government.

V. Any act regarding religion; further limitations on freedom of political speech; or further limitations on freedom of the press.

VI. Further infringements on the right to keep and bear arms including prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition; and

That should any such act of Congress become law or Executive Order or Judicial Order be put into force, all powers previously delegated to the United States of America by the Constitution for the United States shall revert to the several States individually. Any future government of the United States of America shall require ratification of three quarters of the States seeking to form a government of the United States of America and shall not be binding upon any State not seeking to form such a government; and

That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the house clerk to the President of the United States, each member of the United States Congress, and the presiding officers of each State’s legislature.

Buy Buy Buy Buy Bye?

Everyone keeps talking about how bad things are in the economy. They talk about slumping sales, they talk about how consumer confidence is at an all time low, they say no one is buying cars, no one wants to buy a house, I even heard that porn sales are down. But I am here to tell you that things are not nearly as bad as people are making out to seem. Apparently these economists have not heard about the abundance of high quality, free porn on the internet. Anyway if these so called experts are wrong about porn, what else are they wrong about. Well I am here to fill you in on what is really going on out there. So hold on, strap in and lets get this party rolling.

The other day I was listening to the news and I heard an expert say with a sigh "well I guess Americans will just have to live at their means.". I heard this and I screamed Eureka (if only I was in a bathtub)!! I got it. I figured out what had happened. Those SOBs. You know what they did, they tricked us. They gave us access to easy credit and sold us a ton of shiny goods. We never stood a chance, all the promises of buy now pay later. Dont worry about the future, just keep consuming. Its all good, you have been preapproved, no payments for 12 months. Just keep buying dont worry you can always open up another line of credit. Before we knew it we were out spending money we didnt have and getting ourselves deeper into debt. Hey, they even told us to refinance our homes and pull out the equity and buy jet skis. How could we say no. We couldnt, not with the mounds of cash being layed at our feet. And what did this do? What was the result of this? Gourment specialty stores, electronic megaliths and so many freaking Starbucks, I thought Juan Valdez had become president. Now we are saying, enough is enough. We are tired of having 20 grand in credit card debt and not being able to pay it off. What do you say to the guy who owes 450,000 on a house worth half that? Well at least you have a nice TV, it will look great in your apartment?

What do I think? I think this disappearing credit is good for America. If it means that 300 Starbucks have to close, so that we can get out of debt then so be it. I think the coffee at the corner gas station is still better then that frufru coffee they sell and its 1\4 the cost. I heard Circuit City was going out of business, you know what I said? I said Good!! Now I can get a cheap TV. These vampires who have been bankrupting America one flat screen at a time are now in trouble and they want us to feel bad. Oh boo hoo poor big corporation. I think its a great time to be a consumer, I mean everything is on sale. They couldn't sell water in the desert right now. Everywhere I go I see sales signs. What a great time to be a consumer. You want a car, shit the dealer will come to your house every week and wash your car for you. Now thats what I call consumerism. When Linens and Things went belly up last fall, I swooped in an outfitted my next 5 kitchens for pennies on the dollar. Oh yeah!! They say its bad, I say its a great time to be a buyer. Finally its a buyers market... Hooray!!

Look, it was unrealistic to assume that our economy would continue to grow and to never shrink, but that is exactly how our economy was engineered. As long as we kept consuming at a feverish pace everything would be ok, but you know what thats impossible. Even an alcoholic will take a day off every few years. And thats what happened, and whether it was the booze that disappeared (loose credit) or us who no longer had an appetitte, the result was the same. Economic collapse. To be honest it is not that bad, this is natural. Our economy had grown too large due to greed. Greed on our part to get the things we couldn't afford, and greed on the lenders who saw a potential for a buck, to greed on the huge super stores who hawked their goods. But now, we are all paying the price. Americans are deep in debt, banks are failing and stores are going out of business, but its OK because soon things will settle back down again. Consider this our 25 year hangover. We need the economy to shrink, it was too big. It had become unsustainable. The Fed can try everything raise interest rates, print more money, bankrupt America, destroy you, eat your children (sorry got away from me for a second) eventually this house of cards was going to come tumbling down.

So what does this mean? It means that things are good then they are bad then they are good again. Things happen in cycles. Or even more accurate, whats good for one, is bad for another. Today, is our day, the day of the consumer. All this negative talk does is to scare people into not buying. I say harrumph to that. Go out and spend. Buy stuff, its really cheap now and very affordable, but please dont get in over your head. Lets be smart about this and lets take advantage of the lowered prices and abundance of goods. Remember its a buyers market right now, and I dont know how long it will last so, I guess what I am saying is to go out and stock up and buy stuff on the cheap, and take advantage of the sales and get that green sweater you have been eyeballing. Cause remember just because its a buyers market today doesnt mean that it will be that way for long.

If Jefferson were Here

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate & equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inherent and inalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it's foundation on such principles, & organising it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness. Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light & transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses & usurpations pursuing invariable the same object, envinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, & to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these States; & such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present government is a history of repeated injuries & usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the States. To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world:

They have created an Imperial Presidency, allowing the Executive more powers then a King

They have waged aggressive unconstitutional war on foreign nations under false pretenses.

They have set up domestic propaganda programmes to deceive the public

They have systematically kidnapped, tortured, and killed innocent people in our names

They have transported people to far off lands for pretend offences

They have suspended our most fundamental laws, including, but not limited to, habeas corpus,right to trial by jury, & right to question your accuser or form a defense 

They have confiscated our property for the benefit of the elite

They have colluded with bankers and money manipulators to deprive us of our wealth through the deception of inflation

They have formed free speech zones in an attempt to distance dissent

They have created vast bureaucracies in violation of our Constitution

They have created ex-post facto laws for the benefit of a few and at the expense of all

They have pursued a course of global empire, expanding government and contracting liberties

They have brought standing armies to our shores to police the people in violation of the law

They have refused the people the right to sound money as mandated by the Constitution

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Government, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

We, therefore, the People of the united States of America, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of this Country, solemnly publish and declare, That these united States are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Current Federal Government, and that all political connection between them and the Ferderal Government,  is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

End Of America

A day that will live in infamy

Today our House of Representatives voted for the bailout of Wall Street. They had previously rejected it on Monday. The Senate took the bill added an additional 150 billion in earmarks, passed it, and sent it back to the House. The polls showed public opinion at an amazing 50-1 in opposition to this bill, yet it still passed! When the Founders of this country declared independence from England, they stated why they had to break away in a list of grievances. Some things written in this declaration are strikingly relevant today. Among the grievances listed were:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

We are all going to experience the loss of purchasing power through inflation. That is a hidden tax that we all pay and we pay it for the benefit of the banks. Most don't understand how it happens, and if they did, would not consent. In 2006 Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, which allows for permanent detention of "enemy combatants" without ever having to press charges. No contact with your family or a lawyer and certainly no trial by jury, all this on the say so of one man, no probable cause needed. The CIA has openly admitted to the use of extraordinary rendition. We currently live in a Country that, has "free speech zones", allows warrentless wire tapping of our phone calls and emails, tortures people, and has taken away habeas corpus. Our most important rights as free people are being gutted from our Constitution.

So here we are faced, we are told, with an economic meltdown. We are being told that we must give unprecedented power to unelected officials. The fear-mongering on this issue has been great. Every major "leader", including the President, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Chairman, both presidential nominees, the leader of both parties in both the House and the Senate, all have claimed the sky will fall if Congress does not act immediately. In spite of the warnings the American people in record numbers contacted Congress to tell them NO, DO NOT PASS A BAILOUT. Some polls showed as high as 200-1 against this bill. So Congress goes ahead and passes the bill, and not only passes it, but adds on an additional 150 billion of taxpayer money in giveaways to special interests. The people's message to congress seems to have fallen on deaf ears.



After listing all of the grievances the colonies had, Jefferson wrote this:

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

When will we come to this conclusion again?

--Jeff Avitabile

Step In The Right Direction

Today the House of Representatives rejected TARP, the $700 billion bailout proposed by treasury secretary Henry Paulson and favored by Bush and bipartisan congressional leaders alike, and all I hear from the mass media is that we are in dire circumstances now! Albeit, I agree we are in bad times, but let’s take a minute to look at what would have unfolded as a result of the bill being passed. First off, the economy would worsen as a result of the number of foreclosures and job losses that will continue to rise. This would be inevitable seeing that this poorly conceived plan mentioned nothing to regulate against it. Come to think of it, it doesn’t mention much, only that it needs $700 billion (kind of scary to think this is the only idea that they can come up with). With no plan in place to avoid this crisis in the future than what’s the point! Instead of calling it the “trillion dollar crisis” it will be called the “two trillion dollar crisis” down the road. Next on the list, what’s in it for the dollar? I’m not talking about inflation (this time, next article) which already has taken a heavy toll on our economy, but rather the affect that wall street investors will have when they again start to focus on negative interest rates, account deficits and ever increasing banking problems (Wachovia just made the list). The dollar will retreat even farther turning inflation into hyperinflation or worse. In fact the dollar has already begun to retreat, falling somewhere in the area of 5% since its mediocre rally that only lasted about two in a half months. So what can be done in place of this rushed proposal? I hate to just bitch about the problem and not offer any solutions. After reading an anonymous email that is also posted on this blog, it got me thinking. It talks about the $85 billion that had been used to bailout AIG being instead given to the taxpayers. Not such a bad idea in my book. Alright, maybe not so much to the extreme of the email (even though it’s still better than Paulson’s plan), but giving part of that money to hurting homeowners in order to pay part of their mortgage can go a long way. This would help preserve the value of these mortgage backed possessions and add a certain degree of liquidity to the market. It would also mean keeping these taxpayers in their homes where the economy needs them! A friend of mine only a short time ago told me his house recently devalued because the guy next to him had to foreclose. Scary stuff! To come to the point people, I’m fed up with hearing what the overly rich have for solutions. Let’s hear what the majority has to say! I always love to hear what you the “Mob” has for ideas, so feel free to post your ideas in the comments section below. Let’s follow the constitution for a change; it’s there for a reason!

--Charlie Mullen