News Commentary

Jimmy Carter’s forgotten history lesson

"President Carter attempted to clean up the CIA, firing almost 20 percent of its employees, focusing on the 'clandestine operatives' whose cloak-and-dagger exploits were then fresh news. He also dispersed the agency’s paramilitary arm, put legal restrictions on the agency’s power to spy within the United States, and passed an executive order banning assassinations. But none of Carter’s reforms would last. President Reagan signed an executive order in December 1981 authorizing the CIA to collect “foreign intelligence” inside the United States — the first of many steps his administration would take to restore the power and prestige of the agency." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Should Larry Summers replace Ben Bernanke?

"What sets Summers apart is his readiness to make mistakes on a colossal scale, with other people's money. But as far as we can see that gives him all the qualifications you need to be America's top banker. A high IQ moron is just what you need for this kind of work. You have to be smart enough to talk the talk, pretending that you know what you're talking about. But you have to be stupid enough to believe it. You must think you really can improve the financial decisions of 310 million people. And you have to be arrogant enough contradict all of them...putting your own asinine plans into action even though they will almost certainly bankrupt the entire nation." Continue reading →

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Detroit’s Future in the Face of Bankruptcy

"Over the coming weeks and months much of the media attention will be on the bankruptcy proceedings, themselves, as the courts and responsible parties determine how to reorganize the city’s debt liabilities among the claimants. What will be far more important in terms of Detroit’s long-run future will be the public policies that become the basis for the city’s revitalization and reconstruction. In a new national and global commercial environment, Detroit must make itself attractive and competitive to draw industry and trade — and the accompanying job opportunities — back into what can no longer be considered the exclusively 'motor city.'" Continue reading →

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Justin Raimondo: Is America a Free Country?

"Jimmy Carter is making waves: 'America does not have a functioning democracy at this point in time,' he told a meeting of the American Bridge, held in Atlanta, when asked about Edward Snowden’s exposure of Washington’s secret global surveillance system. Carter’s previous statements about the Snowden affair were mildly supportive. Yet this new statement goes way beyond that: it is a sweeping condemnation of the current regime. That a former US President would say such a thing has got to be the scariest public pronouncement I’ve heard since the Watergate era. What’s even scarier: Carter is right." Continue reading →

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Neutrality Toward Syria Is a Non-Aggressive Policy, But Obama Wants Assad Out

"Obama is acting out several parts. He plays the part of a reluctant war-maker. [..] He plays the part of president of the world and all its refugees and disadvantaged. He plays the part of the moral man who is upholding the international provisions against chemical weapons. However, what matters most in understanding Obama and his Syrian policies is that two years ago, Obama called for Assad to resign and he imposed sanctions on Syria. He called for the Syrian people to determine their future. They did, in the usual political ways of this era, by an election in 2012 and by voting in a new constitution. Obama ignored these." Continue reading →

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Detroit Suffers the Biggest Municipal Bankruptcy Ever — Are Your Muni Bonds Safe?

"The move is clearly a tragedy for Detroit residents, workers and retirees. Many will see their health-care and pension benefits slashed. But, ultimately, Detroit felt it had no choice to get out from under its crushing burden. But what about the broader implications? What does this mean for the $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market? Well, many market pundits will claim Detroit is an isolated case. Many bond-fund managers will try to downplay the significance of this. Do not fall for it. First, Detroit is far from alone. While it is certainly the largest municipality to go broke, the city is just the latest in a long line of troubled municipal borrowers to tumble into bankruptcy." Continue reading →

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Jim Rogers: Why Gold Broke Its Bull Run

"As Rogers notes, India is the largest buyer of gold in the world, giving them a fair amount of influence over the price of the metal. As gold continued to skyrocket in price, so too did India’s trade deficit, the largest drivers of which are gold and oil. As Rogers states, the nation can’t do much about oil prices, so that leaves gold to take the fall. As such, India has taken a number of measures to slow the import of gold including a ban on installment credit card purchases. The first half of May saw India purchase $135 million in the first two weeks of the month, but only $36 million the latter two weeks of the month." Continue reading →

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Herding the Sheeple into Government-Controlled Health Care

"By enacting the dual mandates, Obamacare ostensibly was designed to ensure that its costs were borne by businesses, not taxpayers. But when the president decided to enforce only certain portions of the healthcare law and delay others, he shifted the cost of health insurance onto the backs of taxpayers. This is all on top of that private insurance premiums will rise between 20 to 60% in 2014, and some as much as 100%. How long will the private-insurance market survive with such exploding costs? People will not be able to afford such massive premium increases. That seems to be the point." Continue reading →

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The United States Should Quit Meddling in Egypt

"Liberal demonstrations have claimed that the Obama administration had supported the Brotherhood and its former President Mohamed Morsi. Yet the Brotherhood has claimed that despite the U.S. government’s neutral rhetoric during the latest crisis—calling on all sides to rein in violence from their supporters—American diplomats secretly pressured the Brotherhood to resign itself to Morsi’s ouster by the Egyptian military, re-enter the political process, and thus legitimate the coup. Both sides are correct. How can this be?" Continue reading →

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