Part 1:

We owe this man a debt of gratitude. He is standing for all our rights.

Part 2:

Learn more at checkpointusa.org.

This hour-long video is well worth the time. My favorite part comes at 30:00 when Peter Schiff explains what I believe to be the most crucial lesson from this crisis: it is not a failure of capitalism, but a failure of government interference. The only institutions which needed regulation, are the ones the government created: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Federal Reserve. At about 60:00, he also repeats what my liberal friends hate to hear, that Obama’s policies are very much like Bush’s.

Interestingly and, I think, appropriately, there is a grassroots movement to convince Peter Schiff to run for Senate in 2010: Peter Schiff for Senate (CT)

from blinkx.com

Disgraced former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer published this article on Federal protection of the banking sector. Shortly thereafter, Patriot Act laws were used to spy on his finances which ultimately exposed his penchant for prostitutes.

“Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government’s actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.” (Read more from washingtonpost.com)

Like I always say, government is not our protector against monopolistic companies, they are the creator and enforcer of monopolies.

With recoveries like these, who needs recessions?

This several months old, from Nov 2008, but it’s important to keep the figure in mind: $8.5 trillion. Much was made of the $800 billion which congress actually voted on, but most of the $8.5 trillion came from the super-secretive and largely unaccountable Federal Reserve.

Let’s not allow ourselves to be surprised when the dollar very quickly and very painfully loses its value.

“The federal government committed an additional $800 billion to two new loan programs on Tuesday, bringing its cumulative commitment to financial rescue initiatives to a staggering $8.5 trillion, according to Bloomberg News. That sum represents almost 60 percent of the nation’s estimated gross domestic product.

Given the unprecedented size and complexity of these programs and the fact that many have never been tried before, it’s impossible to predict how much they will cost taxpayers. The final cost won’t be known for many years. . . .

Most of the money, about $5.5 trillion, comes from the Federal Reserve, which as an independent entity does not need congressional approval to lend money to banks or, in “unusual and exigent circumstances,” to other financial institutions.” (Read more from sfgate.com)

Great visual references from pagetutor.com. Graphics are in $100 bills.

one million:

one hundred million:

for billion and trillion, go to pagetutor.com

Last December, the Feds raided a food cooperative in Ohio. There is widespread fear that the tyrants and useful idiots in D.C. are seeking to “protect” us by gaining a stranglehold over our food supply.

“The Stowers family has run a very large, well-known food cooperative called Manna Storehouse on the western side of the greater Cleveland area for many years.There were agents from the Department of Agriculture present, one of them identified as Bill Lesho. The search warrant is reportedly supicious-looking. Agents began rifling through all of the family’s possessions, a task that lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family’s personal stock of food for the coming year. All of their computers, and all of their cell phones were taken, as well as phone and contact records. The food cooperative was virtually shut down. There was no rational explanation, nor justification, for this extreme violation of Constitutional rights.” (Read more from thebovine.wordpress.com)

“The Stowers (Manna Storehouse) vs. ODA Director Boggs. This story has been reported in many places, including the Journal, but I have not seen much in the newspapers. It’s as if the swat-like team stopped in for a visit to investigate. There is much more to this story.

Buckeye Institute President David Hansen and 1851 Center for Constitutional Law Director Maurice Thompson discuss Stowers v. Boggs. This week the Buckeye Institute took legal action against the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) for an unlawful raid on the Stowers’ home and co-op, and subsequent seizure of their personal property. The institute believes ODA violated the Stowers’ constitutional rights.” (Read more from wholefoodusa.wordpress.com)

I am terrified to the depth of my soul of government control over the food supply.

There was no federal laws against Marijuana until 1937. I’m beginning to think our “greatest generation” was only greatest from the point of view of tyranny. See When the United States CONFISCATED GOLD FROM PRIVATE CITIZENS.

Ron Paul: “[The drug cartels] lobby to keep these laws in place because they can’t exist without them.”

See also: Mexican drug lord makes Forbes’ billionaire list

“Decisions made during the final months of the Bush administration created an environment in which the most politically connected investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, not only flourished, but saw their competitors laid waste, with firms like Lehman in bankruptcy, and others, like Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, forced to merge in desperate hope of surviving.” (Read more from huffingtonpost.com)

In terms of power and influence, no other bank seems to come close to Goldman Sachs. Their name comes up a lot as you travel down the rabbit hole of government secrecy.

“In case you were wondering where on earth all that money went that you shoveled into the black hole known as AIG, we now have a pretty good idea.

* $13 billion of it went to Goldman Sachs
* $12 billion went to Soc Gen
* $12 billion went to Deutsche Bank
* $9 billion went to Barclays
* $7 billion went to Merrill Lynch
* $5 billion went to Bank of America

And so on.

All these firms did business with AIG voluntarily. All these firms knew (or should have known) the risks of doing business with an unregulated firm in an unregulated part of the market. All these firms were willing to take the risk that AIG wouldn’t be able to make good on its commitments.” (Read more from businessinsider.com)

from nytimes.com

Thank to the bailouts, the line between government and industry is perverted. Banks have good reason to continue being irresponsible, as government will cover their losses with taxpayer money, and politicians have good reason to stick their selfish, stupid paws all over the decisions of private companies, as it’s politically expedient to create the impression of control and punishment.

Holy smokes! I can’t believe this was on ABC. I guess the truth has a way of bubbling to the surface. I’m starting to like John Stossel. This series is my second time posting his commentary (first one here).