News Commentary

Will Grigg: What Holder Really Said

"Like all statements from people who presume to rule others, this brief message from Holder – – who is Nickolai Krylenko to Obama’s Josef Stalin – should be read in terms of the supposed authority claimed thereby. What Holder is saying, in substantive terms, is that the President does have the supposed authority to use a drone to kill an American who is engaged in 'combat,' whether here or abroad. Under the rules of engagement used by the Obama Regime in Pakistan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, any 'military-age' male found within a targeted 'kill zone' is likewise designated a 'combatant,' albeit usually after the fact." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill Grigg: What Holder Really Said

Pepe Escobar: El comandante has left the building

"Compare it with US President Barack Obama - in what sounds like a dormant cut and paste by some White House intern - reaffirming US support for 'the Venezuelan people'. Would that be 'the people' who have been electing and re-electing Chavez non-stop since the late 1990s? Or would that be 'the people' who trade Martinis in Miami demonizing him as an evil communist? El Comandante may have left the building - his body defeated by cancer - but the post-mortem demonization will go on forever. One key reason stands out. Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: El comandante has left the building

Larger Spending Cuts Would Help the Economy

"The $825 billion stimulus program cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per job, even based on the administration's own inflated job estimates. Cash for Clunkers cost $3 billion merely to shift car sales forward a few months. The PPIP to buy toxic assets from the banks to speed lending generated just 3% of the $1 trillion that the program planners anticipated. And now? Mr. Obama proposes universal preschool ($25 billion per year), 'Fix it First' repairs to roads and bridges, plus an infrastructure bank ($50 billion), 'Project Rebuild,' refurbishing private properties in cities ($15 billion), endless green-energy subsidies, and a big hike in the minimum wage." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLarger Spending Cuts Would Help the Economy

Gentlemen, Start Your Presses

"Many have dubbed the last decade or so to be an era of easy money. As it turns out, that characterization may have been premature. Based on the new crop of central bankers who are primed to take control of the world's financial system, the age of truly easy money may be just getting started. Many expect that when Bernanke's term expires in January 2014, he will be succeeded by the dovish Yellen. But that's just the beginning. In short order, a host of serial money printers will take up the reins at the world's most important central banks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGentlemen, Start Your Presses

Boycott Bitcoin!

"Well, Fellow Reckoner, it’s been something of a sad week for proponents of Bitcoin… Would-be buyers of the fringy cyber experiment have had to watch as the price of their beloved currency shot to within (as of this writing) a few cents shy of $35 per coin. No buyer wants to see that kind of action…unless they are also an 'already boughter.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBoycott Bitcoin!

Peter Schiff: The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream

"The Fed Chairman has been talking about tightening for some time. In 2010, he said, 'As the expansion matures, the Federal Reserve will need to begin to tighten monetary conditions to prevent the development of inflationary pressures.' Back then, the same mainstream analysts were predicting recovery and a reversal of quantitative easing (QE). Instead, we have subsequently seen QE2, Operation Twist, and now QE3 to eternity. While these mainstream commentators are at best guessing as to why or when the Fed might reverse course, I understand that it is extremely unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future. In fact, I've bet my net worth on it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream

Ron Paul: The Sequester ‘Crisis’ And What Should Be Done

"The United States did not collapse last Friday when the package of spending reductions known as 'sequestration' went into effect. The financial markets hardly blinked, as they have come to be more skeptical about these periodic government-hyped 'crises.' What had been portrayed as a drastic reduction in government spending was merely a decrease in the projected rate of increase in government spending over the next decade. Under sequestration, government spending increases by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years rather than $2.5 trillion without it. So we are speeding toward collapse at only 100 miles per hour instead of 110 miles per hour." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: The Sequester ‘Crisis’ And What Should Be Done

Lew Rockwell: The US Corporate State

"It didn’t take long for opponents of the market to pounce after the events of 2008. The crash was said to prove how destructive 'unregulated capitalism' could be and how dangerous its supporters were – after all, free-marketeers opposed the bailouts, which had allegedly saved Americans from another Great Depression. In The Great Deformation, David Stockman – former US congressman and budget director under Ronald Reagan – tells the story of the recent crisis, and takes direct aim at the conventional wisdom that credits government policy and Ben Bernanke with rescuing Americans from another Great Depression." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLew Rockwell: The US Corporate State

Sequester solved: Sell national parks, stop foreign aid, leave Germany

"Before you head for the bunker or put a down payment on a famous bridge, I’d like to offer some sensible alternatives to sequestration calamity. Here are three that would solve the sequestration problem with billions to spare. These are just a few alternatives to the disaster that will supposedly accompany giving the federal government a smaller raise this year. Tragically, most people would view these proposals as crazy but view borrowing money to give away to others as perfectly sane. That’s when you know the end is nigh." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSequester solved: Sell national parks, stop foreign aid, leave Germany