Passing Health Care Legislation is Not the End

We hear time and again how great democracy is, yet our politicians time and again refuse to listen to the majority. Not to mention, they manipulate facts and propagandize truth in order to try to spin public opinion in favor of their position. Does anyone really think that this legislation is meant to help the poor and the uninsured? If so, than that person does not understand history and has forgotten even recent events that have provided us with huge government boondoggles which have benefited no one except the already powerful elite. This legislation helps the banks and corporate insurance companies, guaranteed. These people couldn’t care less about you. They see themselves as smarter, better and more deserving than you, and that’s why they live above the law and feel they can dictate to you how to live regardless of what you think.

This increase in the size of government will only serve to hasten the destruction of our currency. It will only serve to help establish a one world government as the entire planet sinks deeper into depression. It will put more people out of work. It will force more small businesses into bankruptcy. It will make more people dependent on a cold hearted, faceless government that cares nothing about humanity. It will serve up the economy to the few corporations that will be left after the slaughter. Those companies will then pay off the corrupt politicians to make sure they maintain control.

This health care legislation and the firestorm of activism and debate it has launched has also served as a distraction to take attention away from other important issues of the day. We don’t hear much about the continuing wars of aggression which brought the Democrats into power in 2006 when they promised to put a stop to them. We don’t hear much about the repealing of the unconstitutional Bush era laws such as the Military Commissions Act and the Patriot Act, laws which they promised to repeal when they were campaigning. Worse still, Mr. Obama actually extended the Patriot Act when he could have used his power to keep his promise and simply let many of the provisions sunset. We haven’t heard much about auditing the Fed and discovering the fraud, a crime which will likely make it impossible to fund this health care debacle if it’s allowed to continue for another ten years.

These unscrupulous politicians make their promises and then dismiss them wantonly. They continue to drive our economy into the ground and destroy any semblance we might have had of a constitutional representative republic. They poison everything they touch. Do you honestly believe they will do any better with the health care system? It will be wrecked upon the rocky shores of political expedience along with everything else our federal government has gotten involved in. They do this with complete confidence that they will not have to pay the piper because we the people have been too quiet for too long. Their hope is that we will simply accept our fate and forget this episode by November. We must be certain that this time they are dead wrong.

Monopolies have traditionally been quite objectionable to a free people. They are very difficult to achieve without government interference. This monstrosity of a law more or less gives a monopoly to big insurance companies. Don’t fool yourself. If there are four or five big companies left, they will not provide the kind of competition necessary to lower prices. Besides, those companies are tied in with the big banks which are tied in with big government. The power elite mean to create an environment where the consumer can’t even vote with his dollar. They mean to create a society where all others are totally dependent on the powerful few for survival. They are trying to create a world where they have the ultimate monopoly, the monopoly on who lives and who dies, and taking over health care with the force of law is a big step toward achieving that goal.

We need to take a lesson from the Icelanders here and just say no. We need to put our collective foot down (even though I don’t like collectivism in this case I’ll make an exception) and demand this law be repealed. At the same time, we need to simply not obey the law. We need to be tenacious about this, to grab hold like a pit bull and not let go. It is ironic that the passing of this bill took place on the anniversary of the passing of the Stamp Act, an act largely responsible for launching the first American Revolution. It was also the Stamp Act that provided the impetus for our founding fathers to include some of the amendments in the Bill of Rights. Perhaps this will be the last of the Intolerable Acts our congress has passed. Perhaps it will be the last time they will try to foist taxation without representation upon the American people.

Whatever happens, don’t expect the Republicans to come to the rescue. They are no better than the Democrats. They are the other side of the same coin. They are bought and paid for by the same interests that control the Democrats. They like big government just as much as their brethren. They like the feeling of power as they laud it over you. They like their perks, the false respect they receive and the benefits they can shower upon their family and friends. Voting for one control freak over another and expecting things to change is foolish. If there is to be a body governing our behavior, we must be certain we govern over that body and enforce rules for exactly what they can govern. We, the people, must not tolerate even the slightest usurpation of the Constitution, and we must hold responsible those who would violate its law.

I don’t trust the Republicans any more than the Democrats. Remember the promises they broke. They were going to shrink government during the Reagan years, and they didn’t. They were going to do no nation building during the Bush Jr. years. Ha. They had a contract with America that they broke. They are responsible for passing the very unconstitutional laws that the Democrats can now use to squelch dissent if they so choose. They now expect us to forget their past transgressions and embrace them? I don’t believe for second they plan on repealing anything of consequence. Sure, there are a few of them that might have an inkling of what liberty is and there are others campaigning who will fight for such principles, but there seems to be too few, too weak. The common folk of this nation need to act. It is time to stop begging politicians who do not listen to change things for us.

The battle for health care reform does not end here. I’ll tell you what I’d like to see. It would make me proud to see a million people march on the capital building without permission and sit on its steps, rather than gathering on the mall, trapping the congressmen inside until they agreed to repeal the bill. I would be delighted to see a peaceful show of force with some meaning. While they were at it, I’d like to see them demand repeal of all unconstitutional law passed in the last decade. We can worry about the rest of last century later. Then I’d like to see the same method used on the Senate and finally the White House to make sure the repeals are complete. I’d like to see the enforcers, be they police, National Guard, or other military, join with their civilian counterparts and refuse any orders from their power elite masters to inflict violence upon those demanding their liberty and respect for their God given rights. If such an event were to occur, then the beacon of liberty would indeed be reignited and shine brightly for the world to see.

I admit that such a dream is unlikely. I am happy to see several states bringing lawsuits against this legislation, but I have no faith in this nation’s corrupt justice system. Besides, it takes way too long to get through and it does nothing about any other unconstitutional legislation. Still, I’m glad to see the states asserting their sovereignty. State nullification and refusal to accept this horrendous law just might work as it did to keep a national ID from being foisted upon us. Yet this is not enough. People, for the most part, just want to be left alone to make their own decisions. From whether or not buckle a seat belt, to what we want to eat, to whether we want our feet nibbled on by tiny fish, to what kind of light bulbs we want to install in our homes, our business dealings with each other do not need to be monitored like we are children. We can make our own decisions and each individual needs to take personal responsibility for determining the amount of risk he wants to take, or for acquiring the knowledge he needs to make informed decisions. Our private lives and the voluntary interactions we have with others is our personal business and government needs to honor that.

We have the right to be left alone. I don’t like to be crude, but there is something I think it’s time to say to government. I think government needs to hear it. “Look, bitch, get out of my life. I’m tired of you. I’m tired of your crap. Get your hands out of my pockets. I’m not your damn piggy bank. Quit telling me what to do. I’m not your damn slave. Go away and leave me alone. I don’t want you anymore. I don’t love you anymore. You are just too damn demanding. I can’t stand being near you. Your breath smells bad. I need my own space. I know I’d be better off without you. Just, just leave me alone.” I don’t know how many others feel that way, but I’m betting there’s enough of us to make a difference.

Dennis Kucinich Loses His Nerve on Air Force One

I doubt very much that anyone has ever accused me of being a Democrat. I don’t know of too many Democrats that adhere to the principles of freedom and individualism as I do. Sure, I share their anti-war views for the most part, but that’s just one issue. And the Democrats actually have a history of being the warring party. Well, I suppose that’s a bit unfair since Republicans have participated in their fair share of war mongering. Come to think of it, the vast majority of politicians are war mongers, not surprising when one remembers that war is the health of the state. These statists, these collectivists, think they know better than the rest of us and simply want to control our lives so they can milk us to their own benefit. It doesn’t much matter to them who dies in the process. But, I digress.

I am not a Democrat. Nor would I claim to be a Republican. Those people who identify with these parties cite the best of their principles and intentions, but in practice we only ever seem to get the worst of both parties. Every once in a while, however, some politician comes on the scene who seems to be a cut above the rest. Every so often a politician appears who cares about principles instead of his own self interest. I thought Mr. Kucinich was such a politician. I thought he was honest and forthright and cared more about principles than about party politics. I thought he was more concerned with the people of this nation than he was with the established powers who use their money to buy congress and the presidency. Perhaps I was wrong.

I don’t agree with many of Mr. Kucinich’s politics. I think he often leans too far left. In fact, I would go as far as to call him a full blown socialist on many issues. He, like many politicians, doesn’t seem to understand that taxes are extortion. He, like many politicians, doesn’t seem to understand the reasons more and more people are beginning to feel this way. He, like many politicians, doesn’t seem to understand that you shouldn’t force people to be charitable to others. He doesn’t realize that such things actually work better for everyone when they are done on a voluntary basis. I do agree with him, however, on several issues. I mostly agree with him on the war issues. I agree with his stance on auditing the Federal Reserve. Until a couple of days ago, I somewhat agreed with him on his stance against the health care bill.

Mr. Kucinich is not stupid. He could see through the lies that this bill hides. He could see that it would not do the things a good socialist wants done. He could tell that it was written not for the good of the common folk, but for the empowerment of the bureaucracies which will grow like tumors out of it and the very insurance companies that pretend to be against the bill. That was why he opposed the bill, based on those principles. After he flew in Air Force One with Mr. Obama, he changed in mind on opposing the bill. Near as I could tell, the bill hadn’t changed to match his principles, he just decided that his principles were no longer as important as his political party.

This is a good illustration of the total corruption of the system. The system has the ability to take a good, principled man and turn him into someone who will compromise his principles in the hopes of achieving something better, something that almost never happens. One might wonder exactly how this is accomplished. One could speculate as to the threats made to Mr. Kucinich during that plane ride, which by the way cost taxpayers quite a bit of money. Did they simply threaten to remove party funding from his campaign efforts? Did they threaten to not be friends with him anymore and not campaign for him? Does Mr. Kucinich have some skeletons in his closet they could use to blackmail him? Is it possible they subtly suggested a far more nefarious threat? One wonders what on earth could have been said to make a person abandon his principles in such a manner. I wasn’t there so anything I might believe is mere speculation, but I did hear Mr. Kucinich mention something about a parachute and listening to the president when he takes you for a ride.

I am reminded of old mob films. I am reminded of someone making someone else an offer they can’t refuse. I am reminded that the world is run by greedy, cold hearted men lusting for power who will do anything to keep competition to a minimum. This most recent push to force a health care bill (which would be more accurately entitled The Medical Power Grab and Government Insurance Monopoly Assurance Bill) upon the American people has reached an extreme in absurdity. It is not rule by democracy. It is not rule by a representative republic. It is not rule of law nor does it have anything to do with any law other than the law of absolute power corrupting absolutely. It is gang rule. It is rule by an organization resembling more the Mafia than a civilized group of statesmen forming a governing body. It’s a shame a supposedly principled man like Mr. Kucinich got caught up in the middle of it.

This latest debate, and I use that word loosely, has shown that the politicians of this country really couldn’t give two turds as to what the average man thinks. We will do as they say. We will submit to their will. This nation now follows the rule of masters and slaves. Those in the political class are the masters, and we are the slaves. Yet even that isn’t what it seems. Mr. Kucinich’s dilemma is evidence of this. It seems that even some in the political class are becoming slaves to their higher ups. The number of masters is shrinking to but a few, and they prefer to remain hidden in the shadows.

It isn’t much of a wonder that Mr. Kucinich has lost his nerve and abandoned his principles. Even so, I no longer admire him nor do I consider him honest and forthright any longer. I have lost the respect for him I once had. The thing is, those who are pulling his strings have likely lost their respect for him also. They at one time were likely somewhat afraid of his independence and now likely hold him in disdain. If he caved on this issue, he will likely cave on the audit the Fed issue and even come to support the wars of aggression that Mr. Obama wants to engage in. Too bad, Mr. Kucinich, I thought you were one of the good guys.

Mr. Kucinich said that health care was a right, and I vehemently disagree with that statement. One has the right to seek health care if one becomes sick. One has the right to endeavor to find the best health care one can if one injures one’s self. One does not have the right to steal from another as happens when one is taxed to provide for another’s health care needs. One does not have the right to enslave another as happens when a doctor is forced by law to care for a patient he may not wish to care for. I don’t advocate that the sick and injured be turned away, but I do advocate voluntary interactions between people rather than government coercion forcing such interactions. I do advocate the faith one has in another’s humanity and would hope that such humanity would be particularly ingrained in someone who chooses a life path in the health care field.

We individualists must now stand more firm than ever. We must let the collectivists know that we do not accept their world view and we will not bow to their pressure. We do not want government interfering with our health care. We do wish fair competition and freedom of choice when it comes to how we seek treatment for our health problems. As of yet, the politicians have not forced upon us their 2700 page monstrosity of a health care bill that dictates nearly every aspect of how we are to engage in our health care interactions. Hopefully, some of these politicians will grow a conscience and it will not pass. If not, however, if they decide to continue to ignore our will, I hope that every one of them who votes for it, and especially Queen Pelosi, the most outspoken authoritarian, will be voted out of office in November. But before that, I hope that the people of this country can finally get over their apathy, find their independence and start to refuse to obey the dictates handed down to us by those who believe they are our masters.

Iceland, the Mouse that Roared

I thought I heard something the other night. It was a distant sound, a low rumbling, a roar from some far off beast that had finally pronounced its presence. It woke me for a second, but it was so distant I felt no threat and simply rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning I learned that Iceland was taking a stand. It was refusing to pay its British and Dutch debts. It is claiming the debts are a result of fraud, and it's right. They have made the offer to pay some years from now, if they can afford it at that time, and only as a percentage of their GDP. This offer has been, of course, declined by Iceland's creditor banks as they demand payment in the form of real assets.

The Icelanders have grown a pair, so to speak. They are doing something I wish Americans would have done, or will do in the future. They are standing up to the privately owned banks that seem to think they are above the law, that they can change the rules at their whim, and that they alone know what's best for the world, which of course happens to empower them and help their profits. I may not agree with all the politics of Iceland. It might not be the bastion of freedom one looking to get away from intrusive government might run to, but I do admire their stance against the banksters.

Let's examine the situation a little closer. The Icelanders claim that private banks owe the money to other private banks, not taxpayers. The people who own the private banks should be responsible for paying back the creditor banks, not the people of Iceland. I agree wholeheartedly with that assessment. Furthermore, I would take it a step further and make the assertion that any government official voting for any public borrowing that requires payment of public funds for interest be held responsible, or their family be held responsible, should the loans go into default. In other words, these public officials should not be allowed to maintain their fortunes while the common folk are expected to pay for the mistakes they made. Perhaps that would help stop the corruption.

It seems that Iceland was fooled into the same ponzi scheme the rest of the world finds itself in. This all revolves around the fact that money in and of itself has no intrinsic value. It is just paper, for the most part, and in the modern world it is just data floating around in cyberspace. Even metal coins are made from cheap and common metals anymore. The fiat system devised by the central banks are designed to collapse at some point, and it's designed to collapse in such a way that the very few, very rich, very powerful end up with all the marbles. It's not enough to them, it seems, to be at the top of the heap, they have to be so high up and keep the common folk down so low as to be untouchable.

Those that own the banks now hope that they can swoop in and buy up the nation's infrastructure for pennies on the dollar, or in this case aurar on the krona. This is how they operate. They print money based on nothing but debt at negligible cost to themselves, then charge interest on that debt, interest that is never created by the way, and then when the debt can't be repaid they end up acquiring all the real wealth that's been created. It's a brilliant scheme in its simplicity. They end up with all the real wealth and they risk nothing of any real value. I could be wrong, but I think it's safe to say that the Icelanders figured this out when their creditor banks started demanding things like their geothermal power stations and other such publicly owned infrastructure as payment for their defaulted loans. They cried “foul!” – as well they should having played by the rules all this time – and charged that they had been defrauded. They may well have shocked the establishment with their refusal to pay the extortion.

One may well ask, “Is this the fate that awaits all nations?” How many nations in the world today are in the same boat as Iceland? How many are having problems just servicing the interest on their debt? I dare say it would be easier to count the nations that weren't experiencing debt trouble. And one could rightly ask where all the money has gone. Certainly the debt hasn't been put back into the economy to create more wealth. Indeed, I would venture a guess that there's trillions of dollars, euros, yens, pounds, francs, marks, you name it, stashed away in vaults somewhere just waiting for the day when they can be used again, money that should no longer exist that somehow found its way into secret vaults that also shouldn't exist.

It is interesting to note that the biggest banks, the ones that managed to get bailed out by US tax dollars rather than made to liquidate, are intimately connected to the same international bankers who own the central banks across the globe. Indeed, Goldman Sachs seems to have become a “bank of the world,” so to speak, as it has its fingers in a little bit of everyone's pies these days. It is also interesting to note that their largest competitors were allowed to fail, effectively setting them up with monopoly privileges. That's how the power banking elite want it, all the money in their hands and all the corporations under their thumb as they monopolize the issuance of currency and credit. Everyone will have to do as they say or they will quickly become bankrupt and destitute. Such is the power of monopoly.

One may well wonder what happens next. The British and Dutch have threatened economic sanctions should the Icelanders fail to fall in line, but is this how we want to treat our brethren? Is this how we want to treat our allies that stood by us in the darkest of times? Do we now just shun people we consider friends simply because they stand up for what they believe is right? Do we go so far as to commit an act of war on such a democratic nation because they recognize a fraud when they see one? This situation should get everyone thinking. The corruption now exposed is so grievous and obvious that we should all realize the time has come to obliterate the current system and deny any power to those who brought this situation to bear.

It is once again time to set up a system of money based on labor instead of debt. We should have a system where free people are able to own property outright, not have to borrow to afford it and then worry that an uncaring bank may come and claim it should one find one’s self in financial trouble. Similarly, it is very disturbing that government can claim private property via eminent domain and non payment of property taxes as if they feel they already own the land you pay for. These wrongs have needed correction for a long time now and hopefully the actions of the Icelanders will help start the ball rolling.

While the Greeks are rioting because they worry their entitlements will be taken away, the Icelanders have been able to take a more direct roll in the political process. The Greeks may well feel they have been left out of the political process, much like many Americans feel at this point in time as we watch the congress blatantly ignore the wishes of the common folk time and again. The bailouts, the wars, the passing of laws violating our rights and the health care bills are all examples of the minority political class ignoring the wishes of the majority to the detriment of society. The Icelanders may have to pay a price for their bravery, but they are finding their way back to freedom and self reliance.

We have been dependent on these banks for far too long and they have taken advantage of it. They have threatened our lawmakers with martial law and economic destruction. They have refused to honor the will of the people and answer questions involving how they’ve spent our money. As I write this, a very few senators, Bob Corker (R-TN), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Judd Gregg (R-NH), are working to strip the Audit the Fed amendment from the Financial Reform Bill and give the Federal Reserve even more power. This will assure they will never be held accountable for the wrongs they have done. These senators need to be shown in no uncertain terms that we the people have had enough and will not obey their dictates and whims any longer.

We as a society need to start producing again. We need to start competing with others who wish to produce. This is how wealth is created. The more wealth we create, the more prosperous we all become. For a few decades now, we have tried to maintain our lifestyles with a service economy. It didn’t work. Now the economy is collapsing worldwide. Now the banks are hoarding that which they created and are trying to claim the real wealth that should be owned by private sovereigns. We need to ask ourselves, can we be proactive and stop this before we wake up and find ourselves in the same boat as Iceland? If not, will we simply say no and refuse to pay as they did, or will we allow our society to break down and resort to violence as the Greeks? Don’t let a few politicians on the bankster’s payroll dictate what needs to be done. Demand action now. Roar louder than the Icelanders. Hopefully, we will find justice later. Hopefully, we can avoid the fate of nations that remain on the central banker’s preferred course.

J Patrick Bedell, More Blowback?

A thirty six year old man decided to commit suicide on March 4th, 2010. His name was John Patrick Bedell. Perhaps he didn't make that decision consciously, no one can be certain what he was thinking as he acted out the last moments of his life, but regardless his death was the inevitable outcome of the actions he decided to take that day. From what I've heard, he had a history of mental illness. His actions certainly bore that out. It doesn't take an Einstein to realize this man was disturbed. Still, exactly why he decided to take the actions he did, exactly why he decided to embark on a suicide mission in which he takes on the much more powerful forces of the US military complex will likely remain a mystery.

There seems to be something troubling happening in this country. People are angry. They are so angry that people who would otherwise live out their lives out as productive members of society are behaving in surprising ways. Stress does that to people. Stress will cause unpredictable behavior. Stress will act upon the mentally ill in an even more unpredictable way. Yet many in the mainstream media don't seem to want to address that. They seem to believe that other factors are causing such despair in people that they see no other option than to carry out some strange suicide attack in the hope they will make some arcane statement. Media personalities ask the wrong questions and explore the wrong avenues as they proffer their ideas as to why these things happen. Perhaps they should ask what caused these people such stress in their lives. It's almost as if they are purposely avoiding an honest look at the situation.

The first thing the media focused on was that this man smoked pot. Oh? You mean like so many tens of millions of others in this country? The insinuation was that smoking pot makes one a crazy, lunatic murderer. At least, that was the gist I got. So, let's think about this. Tell me, how many of you smoke pot on a regular basis? Even if you don't smoke on a regular basis, how many of you have tried it? Did it turn you into a crazed lunatic? How many of you know someone who smokes on a regular basis? Or even just once in a while? How many of them are crazed killers? We've seen this propaganda before. In the thirties movie “Reefer Madness” marijuana smoking is portrayed as something that causes people to play the piano fast and commit murders. It was cartoonish in its absurdity and I wonder how many people even back then could see through the propaganda. I think I can safely say that if marijuana smoking alone caused people to commit murder the population of the US, indeed of the world, would be significantly reduced.

Linking this man's marijuana smoking with murder is disingenuous unless one takes into account that perhaps he was angry that the federal government enforcement agencies continue to raid state legal medical marijuana clinics despite a promise to the contrary. Linking marijuana smoking in general to such behavior labels the vast majority of the population as crazed violent radicals. Polls show that a huge majority of people in the US favor seeing medical marijuana legalized and yet the political power elite struggle to loosen its grip on even that much power. Not very democratic of them now, is it? These people need a way to reverse the public sentiment and so – in their desperation – they use the desperate act of a desperate man to demonize marijuana to try to maintain the status quo.

As time passed, they changed their story a little, perhaps because they realized how ridiculous they sounded to most people, and claimed that Mr. Bedell was trying to medicate his bipolar disorder with marijuana. This might be true, but was this man taking other medications? They say he refused his medication, but had he taken it in the past? Is it possible that the psych meds themselves had something to do with his final act? After all, it has been shown that most people who end up engaging in a mass shootings are on some kind of anti-depressant. Do the anti-depressants themselves have something to do with this behavior? Perhaps they stop working after a time. Or perhaps it just makes sense that someone with a mental illness might end up shooting up the place no matter how he medicates himself. Perhaps the fact that he suffered from such a disorder in and of itself is all that we need to know about him and why he did what he did.

Yet the mass media insists on linking him with pot smoking and other movements. They link him with the 9/11 truth movement. They link him with anti-government groups. They link him with anti-Bush groups. They link him with being a Democrat. They link him with whichever group they want to demonize. This guy was a lone wolf with big problems. He was evidently under a lot of stress and he decided to deal with it in a crazy manner. Was it in fact the restrictions and regulations imposed by the government that caused him such stress? Was it their policies he was striking against? There's no doubt that government, with its taxes, fees, fines and laws defining victimless crimes creates a great deal of stress. Just ask any small business man how intrusive, abusive and obtrusive government is with all its regulations and restrictions. Since he's dead, we may never know for certain exactly what was going through his head. In any case, punishing a group or a group of groups for the actions of a single person is just plain wrong. It was wrong when we were in school and it's wrong now.

I don't advocate violence. In fact, I believe that in order to achieve peace we must be peaceful. How can you achieve a peaceful society through violence? It makes no sense. In the case of government, it is questionable as to how effective even the act of self defense is. Their propaganda arm will quickly turn anyone who resists violence with violence into a terrorist or some other form of evil person. I believe that the vast majority of the common folk would agree with me. If the common folk remain peaceful and continue to protest in a peaceful manner, then the government will be forced to expose their own violent tendencies for all the world to see, as happened in Pittsburgh at the g20 summit last year.

Those at the top, however, the corporate power elite, make a profit through violence. The military/industrial complex, the prison/industrial complex and the security/industrial complex all make billions if not trillions through violence. They advocate for wars. They advocate for laws creating victimless crimes. They advocate for laws allowing for the violation of human rights. It is in part their greed and intrusiveness into the lives of ordinary people that cause such stress in our society. It is inevitable that their unjustifiable policies and actions will cause blowback and they know it, yet they continue to act surprised when it happens and they use their compliant media and the actions of crazy individuals to demonize ordinary people and continue the policies which bring them profits.

It's disturbing to me that these events happen at this particular time. It's disturbing that they happen just as certain movements are gaining in popularity. It's disturbing that such events happen as more people are waking up and discovering the principles of freedom and liberty. I don't like to sound paranoid, but it sure is coincidental that these events occur just when certain interests need some event to provide an excuse for introducing and extending policies which increase and assert their already over bearing controls. These control freaks are introducing a bill which will give the power elite the opportunity to shut down the Internet whenever they feel there is a threat. They are introducing legislation which would allow the US military to arrest political dissenters, just like they used to do in the USSR, label them belligerents and try them in a military court of law rather than a common law court. Fortunately, they still seem to need, or at least want, public support to pass these bills and it appears as if they are using the bizarre suicide attacks of the last couple of weeks to garner such support.

Sometimes paranoia is good. It's not crazy to be paranoid if someone is really after you. But violence is not going to help against government force. Even if they are after the common folk and they initiate the violence, it is likely not a good idea to even retaliate. It is, however, important that we speak out against such violence. It is important that we shine a light on the reality of the nature of our government. It appears to me that what the power elite is afraid of is the truth. It appears as if they are truly trying to subtly turn this nation into a communist regime. Let's hope they don't get more overt about it. They wish to crush free speech, silence all who would disagree with them and control all information reaching the general public just like the world's other current communist regimes. It is important that we let the power elite know that this is unacceptable. It is important to let them know in no uncertain terms that we demand they adhere to their oaths, respect our God given rights and stop creating laws designed to violate said rights. It is more imperative than ever that we as a society engage in civil disobedience, simply refuse to go along with such schemes, or do whatever can be done to ensure our liberties, otherwise the American dream and the principles upon which it was built will fade into the ethers of time.

Why the Treasonous Patriot Act Was Renewed

I have a friend and former coworker who is completely enamored and has total faith in Mr. Barack Obama and the Democrat party. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The guy is a complete sports nut, knowing more about the stats of former and present baseball and football players than he knows about anything else. It's not a bad thing, I guess, – if I ever want to know anything about sports I know who to ask – but it seems to me that there's far more important things in life to familiarize yourself with than with such trivia. Perhaps it's because he is so engaged with the sports mentality that he can't get away from the team aspect. He sees all life as two teams battling each other and trying to win a game. He has picked the political team he cheers for and has problems understanding that both teams are the same and the players can chose when they want to switch teams. As far as he's concerned, as long as a guy on his team is in office, his team is winning.

It's very difficult to convince a man like him of the importance of principles. It's very difficult to discuss with someone like him the importance of giving greater consideration to issues rather than personalities. It's more difficult to convince someone like him that it's more important to look at voting records of those personalities rather than listening to the rhetoric they spew out to make themselves sound good. It's hard to convince somebody that someone they admire is a liar. People such as my friend will sputter and stutter when the lies are pointed out and they try to make excuses for their team. Sometimes, when the lies and betrayal become too obvious, these people will just shut down and refuse to speak of their “heroes” at all.

I wonder how many Obama supporters are so afflicted now that he has reauthorized the Patriot Act. I wonder how many have come to the realization that Mr. Obama's promised change amounts to nothing more than the tightening of the grip of government control over all that is. I wonder if they have figured out yet that he never meant to change anything that they wanted to change and always meant to change only the things that would benefit the super rich and powerful elite. Bush or Obama, Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter. The common folk are being screwed in the most painful way possible by the corporate establishment. It is the corporate establishment that men like Bush, Cheney, Obama and Biden serve, for these are power seeking men who love being the screwers and detest the screwees.

As far back as I can remember, the establishment politicians who've promised peace, or less government, or more accountability, or greater transparency in governing institutions, or more fidelity to the Constitution, or a policy of not infringing on individual rights have been elected to positions of great power. Isn't if strange how these things just become more and more elusive as time goes on? Isn't it strange how no matter who we elect, no matter the party, no matter the personality, we get exactly the opposite of what we were promised? We get bigger government, eternal war, no accountability, a greater amount of secrecy, more unconstitutionality, and a destruction of the concept of individual rights that would make the Soviets blush. It's like politicians are little children forever stuck in that “opposite day” game we all used to play. These guys know exactly what the common folk want, they know how to sweet talk their way into office, but they never seem able to deliver. I don't believe they want to deliver or serve the people, they only serve the corporate establishment because that's where the money is.

Mr. Obama had vowed to reverse the constitutional infractions Mr. Bush had engaged in. He never intended to do so. Nor did any of the Democrats who won their seats back in 2006 when there was such a backlash against the policies of the Republicans and the Bush administration that had so hurt this nation. They have all been bought and paid for by the same corporate interests. That is something that should be obvious to anyone who has opened their eyes to see politics for the dirty cesspool of corruption it has become, in other words for the majority of the people. Only those who are like my friend and still stuck in the “my team is better than your team” mentality don't seem able to recognize that the entire system is broke. Only those who are easily conned or swoon when some smooth talking charmer speaks remain fooled into thinking some superman is going to rise to power to save them. The rest of us, for the most part, seem to have come to the grim realization that there is going to be no savior rising to the top of the political establishment, and yet it seems nigh impossible to put a political outsider into office. The hope that had been promised in the 2008 campaign is quickly disappearing into the black hole of establishment propaganda and the tight grip of corporate control.

Now the political elite have a problem. It seems that more and more people are figuring out what's going on. They can't have that. An enlightened public would threaten their hegemony. They have to keep us divided and bickering over minutia to keep us from uniting against them as they continue to move forward with their globalized agenda and the common folk ignore truly important issues.

I remember back when I was a child learning that people in the Soviet Union were scared of their government. I remember learning that under that collectivist system people would only speak in whispers about freedom in places where the public gather because they were worried someone would turn them over to the KGB. They were frightened that if they spoke poorly of the government they'd be declared dissidents and sent to a gulag or worse. I learned that this was the case in most countries under communist rule. Collectivist governments care not for individual rights. To them, the state is above all else and any individual who may disagree was dealt with swiftly, decisively, mercilessly and violently. It was quite effective in silencing the voice of the common folk and keeping the power elite in control.

I also learned that the United States of America was different because the government had to abide by a document known as the Constitution which limited their power so they couldn't legally partake in such practices. People in the US weren't afraid to speak their minds and could freely complain, protest and insult government policies and the politicians who support them. This doesn't seem so true now a days. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people hush someone talking bad about the government in a public venue. I've heard people say more than once to watch what one says about the government in a paranoid manner. It oft times amazes me when this happens, but the US does have its own equivalent to the KGB and it's known as the CIA. There are people who are genuinely afraid that speaking poorly of the government in public will lead to some form of retribution.

One way or another, the powers that be need to keep the people from realizing what's really going on. They need to keep up the illusion that there are two different teams in politics and that the people have a choice. The mass media leads the effort to make this so, but they are no longer as effective as they once were. The establishment is likely running scared as more people turn away from their controlled media and start looking to alternative media sources for their information. They worry that they might have to resort to more overt actions to quiet dissent. In order to maintain their power, they need laws that will allow them to stifle and chill anyone who might be inclined to talk about such things, laws like the Patriot Act.

On the 28th of February, on the very last day possible, Mr. Obama signed a bill that renewed the Patriot Act in full for another year. Had he waited a few more hours, many of the more intrusive and objectionable aspects of the law would have expired. Not only was this done at the eleventh hour without fanfare, but it was hidden in a bill which had nothing else to do with the Patriot Act. This suggests to me that the Democrat controlled congress and the Obama administration knew exactly what they were doing and consciously made an effort to ignore one of the mandates their constituents put on them when they were elected into office. They must have known they were doing something wrong to go to such lengths to be so sneaky and secretive. They must be worried about what their constituents would think should this action be subjected to the light of day. I think, more than this, they have even more nefarious reasons for extending this bill than they care to admit.

The Patriot Act wasn't renewed to protect you from terrorists. The Patriot Act was renewed to protect the power elite from you. It is a law that can and likely will be used to quell political dissent. It is a law meant to frighten people into silence as more and more common folk are labeled “terrorist” by the corporate controlled media. It is a law meant to terrorize people into obedience and quiescence as they run rough shod over the Bill of Rights and dismantle any semblance of a true republic we once might have enjoyed. It is a law that can even be used, if push comes to shove, to imprison anyone who dares challenge the politically powerful, even if that challenge comes in the form of using the political process, simply by labeling such a person as a “terrorist” or accusing them of being involved with any group labeled a “terrorist” organization. In short, the Patriot Act was renewed to protect the terrorists on Capitol Hill from the masses who might not like the looting of our nation. It was renewed simply to ensure that power stays in the hands of the corporate interests which can afford to pay. Don't expect the establishment to let go of such a law anytime soon.

Social Security and Entitlement Mentality

My mother is a retired Certified Financial Planner. She worked for many years helping people figure out the best ways to invest their money to ensure a stable and prosperous retirement. The other day I called her and she, knowing my proclivity for writing about such things, proceeded to voice a particular gripe that had been bothering her lately. She had been watching a cable news channel, as she is wont to do, and they had been talking about Social Security. They kept using the phrase “entitlement program” when reporting on the money owed to well to do Social Security beneficiaries and this is what bothered my mom.

She felt the phrase seemed a little derogatory, especially the way the reporters were enunciating it as if it was the most distasteful phrase in the English language. She also felt that it was a misrepresentation of what Social Security was meant to be. She was born in the 1930s and like most people her age she's been paying into Social Security her entire working life. She feels that she's simply getting back the money she'd paid in. As she explained to me, it's not an entitlement, it's her money that was entrusted to the government for safe keeping and now she depends on it at least in part so she can live the life she's become accustomed to. I agree. Being unemployed, I certainly wish I had back the money I've put into Social Security.

She can't help it if they've taken money out of the trust fund and squandered it on other things like wars of aggression and interest on loans. The problem is, I explained to her, that she trusted the government. That was everyone's first mistake. Have we learned nothing? Even back in the thirties we should have known better than to trust the government, especially with something as important as retirement planning. That should be testament as to just how difficult times were back then. Perhaps things are getting just as difficult these days because those in government would like to once again have us in the desperate straits we were back then so that we have to depend on them. If we are all poor and destitute they believe we will turn to them for help and guidance. I wonder if we will make that mistake again.

I asked my mother what would have happened to her had she sold her clients a plan like the government's Social Security. She told me she would have likely been arrested for selling a ponzi scheme. That's the real problem. If one goes to a CFP there is accountability. CFPs have reputations to uphold. If they steer clients wrong or give them bad advice they likely will not get recommendations from their clients and their businesses will stagnate and perhaps fail. If they act in an unethical manner they will likely be sued. If they act in a criminal manner they will likely be arrested and face the possibility of jail. What happens when Social Security goes bad? Who's accountable then? Maybe, just maybe, a couple of congressmen or senators might not be re-elected. Big, fat, hairy deal. The worst part is, they get to keep their nice cushy pensions that are paid for by taxpayers.

Perhaps in the thirties popular sentiment was really against such government programs. Perhaps the federal government more or less ignored the people and did as it wanted much like it does today. Perhaps the papers and mainstream media were controlled by big government statists as they are today. Perhaps the voice of the common man was as silenced, intimidated and compliant as it is today, or even more so due to the absence of the Internet. I don't know. I wasn't around back then. I do know that somehow the concepts of liberty, individual freedom, self reliance and personal responsibility were crushed against the rocks of political expedience as this nation rushed toward big government solutions to economic woes caused by government intrusion into free markets in the first place.

Like many people in the freedom movement, I am busy unlearning much of the propaganda and programming that was forced upon us as children in the government indoctrination centers. We are not a purely righteous nation always battling for the side of good against evil enemies who would enslave us, steal our freedoms and sentence us to a life under the watchful eye of a cruel police state. We as a society have done that to ourselves. We haven't known true freedom in this country since not long after the notion of individual freedom was exalted in the founding documents. The social engineering and big government programs that have been enacted in the interim have done nothing to ensure freedom and liberty for the people of the United States of America and have done everything to give power to an elite political class that seeks to maintain control of society. They do not do things to service the common folk of this nation, they do things to increase their own standing and status in life and exalt themselves. Politicians are not to be trusted.

So more than seventy years ago a bunch of politicians decided to start taking money from individuals and putting it away for them, mostly without their permission. It's supposed to be a voluntary program, as many taxes started out, but somehow it became as good as mandatory. Try to get out of paying it and see what happens. Try living in modern society without a Social Security number. While I've heard stories of people who have accomplished this feat, it seems that one shouldn't have to jump through so many hoops to get out of a supposedly voluntary system. It is likely perceived by many as not being worth all the trouble and many more likely don't even realize that it's possible, so hardly anyone even questions the tax.

To complete the illusion, years ago the politicians offered a bill that would have “allowed” people to take their money from Social Security and invest it as they would like. Can you imagine, allowing people to keep their own money and do with it as they see fit? What a concept! What would you have done given the choice? Would you have continued to trust the government or would you have taken your money and invested it with someone who could be held accountable? Somehow, the bill didn't pass. The few in the political elite class decided they knew better how to invest than the many who earned the money. Now, as ever, there is fear that Social Security will go broke. I have my doubts as to whether or not I'll ever see a cent of the money I've paid into it, let alone my children who are also paying into the system. It is yet another example of how government fails due to their own foibles.

Yet even if Social Security goes broke, that's not the most devious aspect of the scheme. Even if you're getting money back, you are likely not getting anywhere near the value of the money you originally put into it. The value of the dollar has conservatively dropped more than 90 percent since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Where did that value go? Perhaps into the hands of a moneyed elite, a de facto royalty, as it were? If the stated purpose of the Federal Reserve is true, that is if it was truly set up as a means to stabilize the US economy, then this fact alone shows that it has failed miserably in its mandate. When something fails, particularly something as important as an institution which is supposed to supply a nation's currency, it should fail utterly and its owners should be held to account. Instead, the owners of the Federal Reserve have enriched themselves to the point where they are the wealthiest, most powerful families in the world by screwing the wealth producing common folk and despite their failure to provide the service they promised.

Previous to the creation of the Federal Reserve, the dollar held its value fairly well. Since the dollar's official approval by congress in 1786 and until the inception of the Fed in 1913, the dollar's value actually increased. In other words, if one had put a dollar away in 1786 and then somehow been able to get that same dollar back in 1913, that person would have been able to purchase more with that dollar in 1913 than he had been able to in 1786. It seems to me that the system was working fine before the invention of the Federal Reserve, with the exception of a few short lived downturns mostly caused by manipulations of hard currencies by powerful international banking interests as they attempted to influence public opinion in the US to create a demand for a central bank. The public's distrust of central banks was such that those who wished to implement one were forced to use cloak and dagger methods, disinformation and political dirty tricks to force this institution onto the American people. It was an institution set up to further enrich and consolidate control to those who were already rich and powerful. Why else would someone try to fix something that wasn't really broke?

Can you imagine what life would be like if you could save a dollar today and ten years from now its buying power would increase? How much easier would it have been to plan for retirement? How much easier would it have been to know what money could be put away for the future and what money one could afford to risk on investment? A stable currency, which was provided in the freer markets of the past, makes for a more predictable economy where one is better able to live out a dream. A fiat currency based on debt, such as we use today due to the creation of the creature from Jekyll Island, makes for an economy which must by its very nature expand and contract. It leads to wealth being lent rather than created or owned and therefore it is wealth that can legally be taken away, even if it was well earned. Basing currency on commodities that represent something earned combined with a reverence for the sanctity of private property makes for a prosperous society with a slow but steady growth of wealth.

Social Security is not an entitlement in the sense that it is owed to one without being earned. It is an attempt to gain back wealth that has been entrusted to others. More than that, it is an attempt to regain the purchasing power that was there when the money was earned. A penny saved may be a penny earned, but a penny put into today's Social Security may well be a penny lost, or squandered on something else.

There are those who go through life thinking the world owes them a living. The world owes you nothing. It is up to each and every one of us to go out into the world and produce, therefore we earn our keep. The only entitlement any of us should have is the entitlement to keep what we earn. If it is lost, we should have no one to blame but ourselves. We do not have even this simple entitlement in our modern society as we are forced against our will to give a portion of our earnings to a bureaucracy that cares about nothing else other than expanding its own power.

The problem is, we exist in a society that is ruled over by a class of people who produce nothing. They use force and deception to collect money from the productive in society. They become wealthy on the backs of the common folk and then leave the productive class begging for what should have been rightfully theirs in the first place. It is time to make Social Security a purely voluntary program. It is time to make it easy to opt out. It is time to let it pass or fail on its own merits. It is in fact time to make all government and taxes voluntary. It is time to phase out all monopolies and let competitors offer their services to the public where once only government entities were allowed.

Freedom is the answer. Economic and social liberty are the tools of prosperity. Bigger government and more collectivist practices can only stagnate and stifle the economy. It will only channel more wealth and control to the already super wealthy and powerful. The entitlement mentality, believing one is entitled to wealth one did not earn, helps grow government and cement the collectivist mindset. A truly free market, given the chance, will do a much better job of holding the unethical accountable than one size fits all government solutions could ever do. Failure should not be rewarded by increasing budgets as government does. Success should only be possible by providing excellent goods and services. Once we recognize the source of the problem, we can start dismantling its mechanisms, reverse the economic downturn we find ourselves in, and once again become the free and prosperous nation we were meant to be.

Joe Stack, Example of Blowback?

I just learned of a story where a man, Joe Stack, flew an airplane into a building in Austin, Tx. I first wish to express my concern and heartfelt condolences to any victims and their families who may have suffered as a result of this man’s desperate act. It’s a shame when anyone suffers through no fault of their own.

I read Mr. Stack’s letter where he ranted against the IRS before his website was shut down. He was obviously quite a disturbed individual. He was also obviously pushed to the edge by the onerous, contradictory tax code. He was likely pushed over the edge by the uncaring, unaccountable, faceless bureaucracy that makes up the IRS and the justice system. He blamed them for his woes and he made them the object of his ire. This is a terrible event, but we must be careful as to how we let government react to it.

It is not surprising to me that such an event has taken place. Indeed, there are many who have been predicting such an event would take place. No one has been exactly sure what would happen, but many have been certain something was in the air. It’s not too hard to understand why such an event would take place. Although I am not an advocate of violence, it is understandable that some might come to a place in their life where they believe they have no other options. Such seems to be the case with Mr. Stack.

It was the CIA itself which came up with the idea of blowback. The idea is that when someone, or a group of people, believe they have been unjustly subjected to violence they will strike back with violence at those they perceive are their persecutors. Obviously this man felt the IRS was persecuting him specifically.

It has come to pass that someone who felt taxation is extortion has now taken his own life and maybe others in an effort to find some sort of justice. He can’t see how futile and ineffectual his actions were. The rest of us can. This should be a lesson to all just how poor a solution violence is. It does, in fact, in nearly all cases, do just the opposite of what it was intended to do. The wars America has engaged in lately have not brought liberty, effective democracy or a better life to those that were supposed to be helped. The action taken by Mr. Stack will likely not bring an end, nor even any empathy, to the IRS.

It is more likely that there will be a reactionary response to this event, as there was to the 911 attacks. This event will likely be used to try to push through some sort of draconian laws and authoritarian agenda. There will likely be quite a bit of fear mongering to go along with this event. Already there is an establishment effort to try to demonize populist movements because their attempts to co-opt them may well be failing. Too many people have come to the realization that the two party system has failed miserably. Those who want to peacefully re-establish competition, a free market, and individual liberty are gaining popularity. The corruption within the system is eating at its core and so the system is collapsing.

It is almost inevitable that the system will try to use this kind of event to try to shore up its failing façade. As the populace begins to discern the real cause of societal problems, those in power will try to shift the public focus from themselves to some manufactured boogey man. This type of event presents a nearly perfect opportunity to cast the government and their agents as the victims rather than the perpetrators. The government spokesmen and apologists will attempt to do just that. This can only work so many times, however, and it is questionable whether or not it will work this time.

The establishment media as well as other government mouthpieces will likely try to demonize any and all groups this man is or has been associated with. They will try to lay the blame on anyone they feel is a threat to their power and will use this event to try to silence popular sentiment. This was an individual who made an individual decision, and a very bad one in my opinion. His actions do not reflect on anyone or any agenda other than his own. He felt he was personally unjustly targeted by the IRS and therefore he targeted them and sacrificed himself in doing so. At least, that’s the impression I got after reading his long and convoluted rant. Do not let the establishment media convince you otherwise.

I feel that income taxes are extortion. I feel that they are unfair and unconstitutional. I feel that anyone with any knowledge of this nation’s history and the reasons it was established will recognize this. The federal government and its IRS have overstepped their bounds. It is unfortunate that this event has occurred and it could possibly cause the opposite effect than what was intended. This may very well give the federal government cause to try to silence tax protestors, including those who participate in large gatherings known as tea parties. It may cause a unprecedented crackdown and an excuse for the power elite to completely stop listening to the masses. Let us hope this is not the case. I, for one, will continue to speak out against taxation until I can no longer do so.

Violence is not the answer. Violence only begets violence. It is a vicious circle that will take a concentrated effort to break. The way to a free and peaceful society is to act like free and peaceful humans, to become free and peaceful humans, to create freedom in our communities and peace in our hearts. This cannot be done through force. I urge anyone who is thinking of initiating violence against the state to refrain from doing so. It can only harm the peaceful freedom movement. It is the power elite who resort to violence, not the common man. Do not stoop to their level. We can achieve the dreams of liberty though peaceful non-cooperation, civil disobedience and a structured dismantling of the current corrupt political establishment. We are evolving in that direction. Hopefully we will continue to do so despite the desperate actions of some who may embrace violence.