Yearly Archives: 2013

Congress proposes adding $4.5 billion to historic highs spent on border security

"Federal spending on border security is at an all-time high -- and it would get even higher under the Gang of Eight’s new plan. The Senate immigration proposal, released last week, would allocate $4.5 billion in the next five years to tighten control of U.S. borders. The U.S. spent nearly $18 billion dollars on immigration enforcement agencies last fiscal year, more than all other law enforcement agencies combined. The bill requires buying as many drones as needed to have 24/7 surveillance of the Southwest border. The U.S. has already purchased 10 border drones, which cost $18 million a piece and roughly $3,000 an hour to operate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress proposes adding $4.5 billion to historic highs spent on border security

Congress repeals law barring members’ insider trading

"Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act in 2012 in response to the public outcry over members' self-serving insider trading scandal last year. As with most laws, what is a crime for citizens was not illegal or unethical for members of Congress and their staffs. It was a fleeting moment of transparency and accountability. Like a cowardly thief in the night, members of Congress quietly colluded to repeal the reporting requirements of the STOCK Act this year by unanimous consent: The shameful ordeal took all of 10 seconds in the Senate and 14 seconds in the House." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress repeals law barring members’ insider trading

Lawmakers, aides may get Obamacare exemption

"Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said. Yet if Capitol Hill leaders move forward with the plan, they risk being dubbed hypocrites by their political rivals and the American public. By removing themselves from a key Obamacare component, lawmakers and aides would be held to a different standard than the people who put them in office." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Dealers Are Running Into Problems In Canada

"Two Canadian businessmen recently got some bad news from their banks. James Grant, owner of Canadian Bitcoins, got a letter. Melvin Ng, proprietor of CADBitcoin, got a phone call. Both men run online exchanges where you can purchase Bitcoins for Canadian dollars. And both were informed their businesses’ accounts frozen by Canada’s largest banks. 'It’s a weird situation,' Ng told us by phone recently. 'We’re a normal Canadian business, we’re registered with the government, and a Canadian bank can just block it off.' Grant was more blunt: 'They just don’t like Bitcoins.'" Continue reading →

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Better “Safe Haven” – Switzerland or Canada?

"Not only is Switzerland a nation with an impossible terrain for armies, it has an army (mainly reserves) of over a million soldiers ready for action at any time in a well-trained state of readiness. Its complex of bridges and tunnels, which link it with all the different parts of Europe and allow its own people to travel through the nation, is mined with explosives that will make it impassable should it be invaded. As a result its refuge for capital is 300 years old and its banking industry 5 times the size of its own GDP stretching all over the world. It has been tried and tested in war and in peace like no other nation." Continue reading →

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Swiss banking chief tries to quell clamor about gold

"Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan won't exclude increasing the central bank's gold holdings at some point and said most of its reserves are held domestically. More than 70 percent of the SNB's 1,040 tons of gold are held in Switzerland, with about 20 percent at the Bank of England and 10 percent at the Bank of Canada, he said, for the first time disclosing where the physical assets were stored. The SNB's gold holdings are the target of a popular initiative, which demands that at least 20 percent of the central bank's assets be in the form of gold. The measure would also block the sale of such holdings and require all SNB gold to be located in Switzerland." Continue reading →

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EU against austerity: Protesters clash with police amid unrest in Spain, Portugal

"Police detained at least 15 in Madrid, including one minor, as they used force to quell an angry mob of protesters near the Spanish parliament, united under a 'Besiege Congress' slogan calling for the government to quit. The riots come as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is set to announce a raft of measures on Friday aimed at tackling the country's recession. An estimated 1,400 policemen were deployed around the chamber as politicians cancelled the session for the day. Protesters held signs that read '6.2 million reasons' in a reference to the latest jobless figures and when police charged them they chanted 'You have jobs, we do not.'" Continue reading →

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Central Banks Load Up on Equities

"Central banks, guardians of the world’s $11 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves, are buying stocks in record amounts as falling bond yields push even risk- averse investors toward equities. Managers of banks’ assets are looking for alternatives to holding government bonds after efforts to stimulate growth from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England helped send yields near to record lows. Central banks’ foreign- exchange holdings have increased by about $8.5 trillion globally in the past decade, exceeding levels needed for day-to-day currency administration." Continue reading →

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Can We Afford Not to Give Liberty Leaders the Benefit of the Doubt?

When the media tried to pretend Rand Paul “flip-flopped” on drones this week, after he used unclear language during an interview with Fox’s Neil Cavuto, I posted the following on Facebook: Folks, the same guy who filibustered for 13 hours to say the government does not have the right to drone American citizens on American [...]

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Read more about the article CISPA Has Died in the Senate…
The Arizona Sentinel

CISPA Has Died in the Senate…

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) died in the Senate yesterday, according to a statement from a representative of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The bill, which had already passed the House, would have allowed the government to snoop on private emails by granting companies the right to disseminate individuals’ sensitive, private information — like medical records — without their knowledge or consent.

Although CISPA likely won’t be passed in its current form, Republicans and Democrats have a bad habit of resurrecting terrible Big Government legislation like this.

Continue ReadingCISPA Has Died in the Senate…