When it comes to its national intelligence community, the federal government has a major accountability problem. Agencies like the NSA and the CIA operate outside of constitutional bounds with little to no actual oversight. Trust in the Government Many perceive that every law Congress passes is constitutional. But Congress passes numerous laws despite James Madison’s…
I’m not sure how much I can rely on a Facebook post to gauge of public opinion, but if it provides any indication at all, an editorial cartoon I posted last week reveals Americans have about had it with the Republican – Democrat paradigm. The cartoon depicts a car that just crashed into a wall…
Federal marshals recently seized a local police agency’s records on cell phone surveillance to keep it from public disclosure, demonstrating the importance of prohibiting dragnet surveillance at the state level. Sarasota, Fla. police were apparently secretly tracking individuals’ cell phones without a warrant using a device called a Stingray, according to the ACLU. “Stingrays track…
While you may have a personal issue with the legalization of this plant, the most important question to ask yourself is this; “Do you believe in the rule of law, based on the Constitution, or do you think it would be OK to chart a different course “just this one time?” Our nation was founded…
"Last week the ECB announced that it was cutting its headline lending rate to 0.15 percent and taking its deposit rate to negative 0.10 percent. That means banks must pay the ECB to hold their money, a move the ECB hopes will spur lending. It will also make $545 billion worth of inexpensive loans available to banks with the caveat that they lend more to the private sector. First tranche euro zone banks will be permitted to borrow up to 7% of the value of their corporate loans with additional tranches of funding [on the way]. While the goal of easing is to improve economic conditions at home, the money will ultimately flow to where it can find the greatest returns, as our own experience has shown." Continue reading →
This week, I’m personally stuffing, sealing, labeling and stamping 3000 direct mail pieces. This is a LOT of work, but it absolutely needs to be done. On the one hand, the nullification movement is really growing strong – and this is covered in our upcoming “State of the Nullification Movement Report” which will be available…
"The near-autarkic, commanding and controlling states that emerged from the Depression, World War II, and the early Cold War exist only as pale shadows of their former selves. Today, the combination of technological innovation and international economic integration has created entirely new forms of organization—vast, privately owned networks—that were scarcely dreamt of by Keynes and Kennan. Are these new networks really emancipating us from the tyranny of the hierarchical empire-states? Or will the hierarchies ultimately take over the networks as they did a century ago, in 1914, successfully subordinating them to the priorities of the national security state?" Continue reading →
"It’s not only Treasury yields that are falling; nominal interest rates are in free-fall around the world: German bunds yield just 1.4 percent and French government bond yields fell to 1.65 percent — the lowest level since 1746! Two of Europe’s most troubled PIIGS, Spain and Italy, also have witnessed record low bond yields of 2.6 percent and 2.76 percent, respectively. Yield spreads on emerging market Tdebt and junk bonds compared with Treasuries are likewise sinking toward new lows. his compression in nominal yields around the global has important implications for investors and could prove very bullish for certain asset classes. Case in point: Gold." Continue reading →
"The central bankers have reason to inflate. The European experiment is precarious and economies around the world are teetering. Part of Mr. Andors's speech, no doubt, has to do with creating the possibility, rhetorically at least, that the EU, too, can join in the mass inflation building around the world. This no doubt seems the only way out for those who have engineered the current economic cul de sac. They will print and print until the danger is past and stock markets have traveled through the roof. Wealth is to be destroyed and pensioners bankrupted, but the system itself is to be perpetuated and expanded. It continues to be a cynical exercise in creating haves and have-nots." Continue reading →