TRENTON, NJ. (Dec. 15, 2015) – Last week, a New Jersey Assembly committee passed a bill to authorize the farming, production, and sale of industrial hemp in the state. This bill would effectively nullify in practice the unconstitutional federal prohibition on the same. Introduced in Feb. by Asm. Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), Assembly Bill 2719 (A2719) sets…
South Carolina H.4496 would completely ban the use of automatic license plate readers by law enforcement in the state. It would also throw significant roadblocks in the way of a federal program using states to help track the location of millions of everyday people through pictures of their license plates. It must pass through the House Judiciary…
"We now have the diametrical opposite of the famous 'Peter Schiff Was Right' video (a compilation of 2006 and 2007 clips in which Schiff, a financial expert who subscribes to Austrian economics, predicted the deep recession that would follow the bursting of the housing bubble). The new, opposite video is a compilation of the 2005–2007 prognostications of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. In it, Bernanke is shown to have been just as embarrassingly wrong as Schiff was uncannily right. Could their differences in economic understanding have anything to do with this remarkable dichotomy?" Continue reading →
"The largest U.S. banks would face a $120 billion total shortfall of long-term debt under a Federal Reserve proposal aimed at ensuring their failure wouldn’t hurt the broader financial system. Banks such as Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will be required to hold enough debt that could be converted into equity if they were to falter, according to a Fed rule that was approved by a unanimous vote on Friday. The Fed’s proposal, which applies to eight of the biggest U.S. banks, requires debt and a capital cushion equal to at least 16 percent of risk-weighted assets by 2019 and 18 percent by 2022." Continue reading →
CONCORD, N.H. (Dec. 14, 2015) – A bill prefiled in the New Hampshire House would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from obtaining most types of military hardware, thereby rejecting federal militarization of police officers. Rep. J.R. Hoell and seven other representatives have prefiled House Bill 1402 (HB1402). The legislation would prohibit state and…
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Dec. 14, 2015) – A bill introduced in the Ohio Senate would restrict the use of drones by state and local law enforcement. The legislation would not only establish important privacy protections at the state level, it would also help thwart the federal surveillance state. Sen. Michael Skindell (D) and Sen. Kris Jordan…
CONCORD, N.H. (Dec. 14, 2015) –A bill has been filed in the New Hampshire state House that would end mandatory government licensing of marriages in the state, effectively nullifying in practice both major sides of the contentious national debate over government-sanctioned marriage. HB1596 acknowledges the right of two individuals to marry and that because of this “it is…
"If you want to buy a put to protect against losses in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, often you’ll pay twice as much as you would for a bullish call betting on gains. New research suggests the divergence is a consequence of financial institutions hoarding insurance against declines in stocks. Deutsche Bank AG says in a Dec. 6 research report that the likeliest explanation may be that demand is being created for downside protection among banks that are subject to stress test evaluations by federal regulators. In short, financial institutions are either hoarding puts or leaving places for them in their models should markets turn turbulent." Continue reading →
"With Citi's chief economist proclaiming 'only helicopter money can save the world now,' and the Bank of England pre-empting paradropping money concerns, it appears that Australia's largest investment bank's forecast that money-drops were 12-18 months away was too conservative. Over the last few months, in a prime example of currency failure and euro-defenders' narratives, Finland has been sliding deeper into depression. As The Telegraph reports, this is a deeper and more protracted slump than the post-Soviet crash of the early 1990s, or the Great Depression of the 1930s. And so, having tried it all, Finnish authorities are giving every citizen a tax-free payout of around $900 each month!" Continue reading →
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Dec. 12, 2015) – A Missouri bill prefiled for the 2016 legislative session would create the foundation to organize a compact of states dedicated to nullifying EPA emission regulations. But while conceptually strong, there exists little likelihood that the compact would ever come into existence because it requires congressional approval. Rep. Eric…