The Marxian Virus in American Thought

Mises Daily: Thursday, December 31, 2009 by Towner Phelan

[American Affairs, 1947]

Perhaps the greatest influence of communism in the United States is upon the political thinking of the American people. Many ideas that have achieved widespread acceptance in the United States on the part of people who have no sympathy with communism are derived directly from Marxist doctrine, but most people who hold those ideas are ignorant of their source.

Marxian communism, unlike traditional liberalism, is based on a materialistic concept of life. Liberalism looks upon life primarily in moral terms. The Marxian doctrine that "economics determines all human life" assumes that men act, not on a basis of principles or any standard of morality, but that their actions are determined solely by their material wants. It assumes that man is not interested in freedom but only in a full belly.

This view has been reiterated again and again by New Dealers in statements of which the following are representative.

"It may be necessary to make a public utility out of agriculture … Every plowed field would have its permit sticking up on its post." (Henry Wallace)[1]

"It has been a long fight to put the control of our economic system in the hands of the government." (Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt)[2]

"The Constitution is used as a holy of holies within which the ugly practices of free competition can be hid from vulgar eyes." (Rexford Guy Tugwell)[3]

"The Government will have to enter into the direct financing of activities now supposed to be private; and … the Government ultimately will control and own these activities." (A.A. Berle, Jr.)[4]

FULL STORY

“The Last Time That Happened Was During the Great Depression”

I've talked about government employees and their retirement benefits before and how they become an unfunded liability for our Cities, Counties and State. Now everyone is finally talking about it. Some Cities are being forced to face it sooner than others and doing something about it.

What is Michigan doing, trying to get enough interest in the Michigan Fair Tax so Lansing can keep spending. While the rest of us have to tighten our belts, go without, and many loosing everything they have worked for, Our employees don't feel they should have to give up a thing. After all, they have a Union and are organized.

Michigan Forces Business Owners Into

Public Sector Unions

After hemorrhaging members for decades, labor unions have hit upon a new way to shore up their annual dues revenue.
By PATRICK J. WRIGHT AND MICHAEL D. JAHR

Flint, Mich.

Michelle Berry runs a private day-care service from her home on the outskirts of this city, the birthplace of General Motors. "The Berry Patch," as she calls the service, features overstuffed purple gorillas, giant cartoon murals, and a playroom covered in Astroturf. Her clients are mostly low-income parents who need child care to keep their jobs in a city that now has a 26% unemployment rate.

Ms. Berry owns her own business—yet the Michigan Department of Human Services claims she is a government employee and union member. The agency thus withholds union dues from the child-care subsidies it sends to her on behalf of her low-income clients. Those dues are funneled to a public-employee union that claims to represent her. The situation is crazy—and it's happening elsewhere in the country.

A year ago in December, Ms. Berry and more than 40,000 other home-based day care providers statewide were suddenly informed they were members of Child Care Providers Together Michigan—a union created in 2006 by the United Auto Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union had won a certification election conducted by mail under the auspices of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. In that election only 6,000 day-care providers voted. The pro-labor vote turned out.

Many of the state's other 34,000 day-care providers never even realized what was going on. Ms. Berry tells us she was "shocked" to find out she was suddenly in a union. The real dirty work, however, had been done when the state created an "employer" for the union to "organize" against. FULL STORY

“The Last Time That Happened Was During

the Great Depression”

by JOHN RUBINO on DECEMBER 26, 2009

Until a few years ago, running a U.S. city was pretty easy. You added services when voters asked, you hired more workers (who were likely to vote for you come election time) to provide the services, and you promised lavish retirement benefits to cops and teachers who weren’t going to retire until long after you left office. If tax revenues didn’t cover day-to-day operations, no problem; Washington was sending plenty of aid to make up the difference.

No longer. The gap between what a typical city gets from sales and property taxes and what it owes its employees is a now a chasm that even trillions in federal stimulus money can’t fill. So for the first time in most Americans’ memory, cities actually have to live within their means. The result, according to today’s Wall Street Journal, isn’t pretty.

As Slump Hits Home, Cities Downsize Their Ambitions

MESA, Ariz. — The police department in this city of 470,000 has lost about 50 officers, and is hiring lower-paid civilians to do investigative work. The Little League has to pay the city $15 an hour to turn on ball-field lights. The library now closes its main location on Sundays, and city offices are open only four days a week. This holiday season, the city didn’t put up festive lights along the downtown streets.

Mesa’s tax receipts, depressed by the recession, will likely come back one of these days. But Mayor Scott Smith doesn’t believe city services will return to prerecession levels for a long time, if ever. “We are redefining what cities are going to be,” says Mr. Smith, a Republican who ran a homebuilding company before his election last year. FULL STORY

Closure of Consumers Energy's B. C. Cobb power plant would mean loss of millions in taxes

By Muskegon Chronicle staff
December 31, 2009, 5:10AM

MUSKEGON — A decision to shut down the B.C. Cobb power plant would be financially crippling to Muskegon because it generates $4 million in annual tax revenues — money used to fund vital government services and education programs, local officials say.

The Cobb plant — Michigan’s oldest operating coal-fired plant — is one of several older facilities Consumers Energy is considering for closure, company officials acknowledged this week.

The loss of the plant — the city’s biggest taxpayer — would be a major blow to the city’s efforts to rebound, Paul said.
“It’s not good news,” he said. “But if it happens, we’ll get through it — we’ll have to.”

Muskegon’s Reeths-Puffer School District, Muskegon Community College and Muskegon Area Intermediate School District would lose a combined total of nearly a million dollars.

Reeths-Puffer receives $568,582, which it uses to make school bond payments, said Dean VanZegeren, R-P’s director of financial services.

If the power plant revenue is lost, the district would have to try to borrow that money from the state’s School Bond Loan Fund, he said. Since the district would have to pay interest on the state loans, it would increase the overall cost. FULL STORY

The Grand Jury, An Idea whose time has come.

Jay Stevens writes in the blog "Left in the West" trying to discredit the Grand Jury, which we will show has a very good history in the USA for many decades before it became controlled by prosecutors. Here is his article:

His article was prompted by Duane Sipe's article here:

Mr. Stevens is right about one thing. "I know some among my circle of progressive friends are a little nervous about conservatives wanting to create a "citizen grand jury" for Montana,...." Progressives are nervous about this proposal. Why is that? FULL STORY

Juries can stop runaway government.

You have the power.

Fully Informed Jury Association

The primary function of the independent juror is not, as many think, to dispense punishment to fellow citizens accused of breaking various laws, but rather to protect fellow citizens from tyrannical abuses of power by government.

The Constitution guarantees you the right to trial by jury. This means that government must bring its case before a jury of The People if government wants to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. Jurors can say no to government tyranny by refusing to convict. On the Grand Jury

FULL STORY

Ron Paul and Barney Frank on Larry King Live 12/16/09

Barney Frank: "I agree 100% with what Ron Paul just said."

Bombshell Eyewitness Revelations: Confirmed FBI Cover-Up Of Flight 253 Attack

Editor’s note: Detroit attorney Kurt Haskell dropped bombshell revelations concerning his eyewitness experience of the Flight 253 attack and how the FBI detained a second man after dogs detected a bomb in his luggage on The Alex Jones Show today. The FBI has not only ignored Haskell’s story, but they have launched a cover-up by refusing to even acknowledge the existence of another man who filmed the entire flight, including the aborted attack, as well as the well-dressed man who aided the bomber to board the plane even though he had no passport and was on a terror watch list. FULL STORY

Detroit in RUINS! (Crowder goes Ghetto)

Crowder talks Detroit in Ruins

A decade of high unemployment is looming

‘New abnormal:’ Some think 10 years won’t be enough to replace losses

It's possible jobs won't return to pre-recession levels at any point over the next 10 years, Levy says.

That's mainly because the economy's recovery, sluggish by historical standards, isn't expected to regain its vigor over the next few years. As a result, companies will be in no rush to ramp up hiring.

Other analysts think the economy will recover the jobs wiped out by the recession by 2013 or 2014 but that the unemployment rate will stay high. They note that the healing economy will cause more people to stream back into the labor force, vying for too-few jobs.

In addition, baby boomers whose retirement accounts have shrunk could put off retiring and stay in the work force longer. That would leave fewer positions available for the unemployed. FULL STORY

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

"For unto you is born this day

in the city of David,

a Savior which is

CHRIST the Lord."

Diamond Rio: In God We Still Trust

The song you are about to listen to in the attachment is from a Las Vegas Diamond Rio concert. They received an immediate resounding standing ovation, and continue to do so every time they perform it!

Major radio stations won't play it because it was considered 'politically incorrect'. Consequently, the song has never been
released to the public.

Now, Congress is getting involved.

President Barack Obama is saying that the song is not fit for release because it offends so many. So, see for yourself what you
think. Can we say "CENSORSHIP" ?

Harry B. Brittan
Thompson's Station, Tennessee

It Didn't Work In Zimbabwe, And It Won't Work In The U.S.

It seems like 2009 is the year to give out awards to those who want to destroy the United States of America.

Time’s Person of the Year Drives the Crisis Spiral

by Claus Vogt 12-23-09

Fed President Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2009. However, in looking back at former People of the Year it becomes crystal clear that this title doesn’t necessarily mean that the honored person has done something good for the world …

It only meant that he or she had made a big influence on the course of history during the preceding year. Some have brought us blessings, while others have brought plagues.

And this year it surely seems that Time’s journalists think of Bernanke as a blessing for the world.

Well, I have to strongly disagree …

It Didn’t Work in Zimbabwe,
And it Won’t Work in the U.S.

It’s really surprising how acclaimed a monetary politician can become nowadays by doing just one thing: Printing money like there’s no tomorrow.

Yet it didn’t come to pass for Leonard Tsumba and Gideon Gono, respectively the former and the current Governors of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. So they may very well feel snubbed by Time’s choice for Person of the Year.

You see, both central bank chiefs were printing boatloads of money long before Bernanke ordered the helicopters into overtime.

Zimbabweans have felt the pain of irresponsible monetary policies. And under their policies, prices for basic necessities were doubling as fast as every 24.7 hours!

Then this past January, with inflation running at 500 billion percent, the Zimbabwe government ditched their dollar in favor of various currencies such as the U.S. dollar, South African rand, sterling and Botswana pula.

Consequently, the government hasn’t been able to attract any budgetary support because donors distrust Zimbabwe’s central bank. FULL STORY

Why The Health Care Bill Is UnConstitutional And Will Be Challenged

I have two articles which show why this MONSTER of a Health Care Reform Bill is outside of the Constitutional Authority of the Congress. More Importantly, they show why EVERYONE should be sending their Senators and Congressman/woman a Constructive Notice Of Instruction now. You can find the sample of the one I sent to my Senators in the post below titled "Twas The Congress Before Christmas"

This first article is one put out by the Heritage Foundation on December 9.

Why the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance Is

Unprecedented and Unconstitutional

by Randy Barnett, Nathaniel Stewart and Todd F. Gaziano
Legal Memorandum #49

Executive Summary

A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States. An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government.[1] FULL MEMORANDUM

And this article written by Larry Becraft.

Another Constitutional Problem for Nat. Health Care:

Equal Protection

One of the reasons for the adoption of “National Health Care” legislation is that allegedly caused by the uninsured, the size of which I estimate is, for purposes of this legal argument, about 10% of the American population. This also means that the rest of our population, the other 90%, pose no problem in this respect. But to solve this problem caused by the 10%, Congress proposes a law to affect 100% of the people who could fall within the classification of being “lawful subjects of federal legislation” (please don’t think that my position is that everybody falls into this category).

Via the 14th Amendment, the States are prohibited from denying equal protection in their legislative enactments. Similarly, there is an “equal protection component” embodied within the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment. See Bolling v Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 499, 74 S.Ct. 693 (1954); and Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200, 224, 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995). Consequently, equal protection principles apply to both the State and federal governments.

Here is an example of how the principles of equal protection operate. In Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 93 S.Ct. 1764 (1973), at issue was an Air Force quartering allowance available to male officers, but not female. Finding no justifiable reasons for making this distinction between men and women, the Court found this quartering allowance violative of equal protection. See also Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636, 95 S.Ct. 1225 (1975)(gender based SSN benefits law was void as violative of equal protection); Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Ward, 470 U.S. 869, 105 S. Ct. 1676 (1985)(state statute taxing out-of-state insurance companies at a higher rate than domestic insurance companies held not to have legitimate state purpose, thereby violating equal protection); and Peddycoart v. City of Birmingham, 354 So.2d 808 (Ala. 1978)(exclusion of municipalities from tort damages (“muni-immunity”) violated equal protection). For many other categorized cases, go here:

PRINCIPLES OF EQUAL PROTECTION

Principles of equal protection deal with legislative reasons for creating categories where a law applies to one class, but not another. A commercial fishing law that applied to one group of fishermen but not another was found violative of equal protection in Isakson v. Rickey, 550 P.2d 359 (Alaska 1976). In French v. Amalgamated Local Union 376, 203 Conn. 624, 526 A.2d 861 (1987), a ban on residential picketing except for unions was held to violate equal protection. In State v. Blackburn, 104 So.2d 19 (Fla. 1958), a law that applied only to advertising signs at gas stations but not others was held violated violate equal protection. These cases are examples of “underinclusive” classifications for equal protection analysis.

If a legislative body attempts to address via legislation a particular problem, it must focus on the class creating that problem. If in doing so, the legislative body encompasses more people than necessary to address that problem, an “overinclusive” classification is created that violates equal protection. See Brown v. Merlo (1973) 8 Cal.3d 855, 506 P.2d 212, 227 (statute was overinclusive because it “imposes a burden upon a wider range of individuals than are included in the class of those tainted with the mischief at which the law aims.”). “An overinclusive classification burdens a wider than necessary range of individuals, extending beyond those persons possessing the trait contributing to the mischief or evil the legislature seeks to eradicate... An underinclusive classification exists when all persons in the class are indeed perpetrators of the mischief or evil the state wishes to eliminate, but others who possess the same undesirable trait remain outside the class.”

In reference to the phony “National Health Care” bill, the problem is caused by that part of our population that is uninsured, but not the rest of us. This law will be overinclusive in that the problem Congress seeks to address involves the uninsured, not insured, but this law will allegedly apply to all “lawful subjects of federal legislation”, including the insured. To include everybody else beyond the uninsured violates principles of equal protection by creating an overbroad classification.

Lowell (Larry) Becraft, Jr., is a constitutional attorney based in Huntsville, Alabama, who specializes in criminal defense cases, primarily involving the federal income tax. His legal web site is: http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/ E-Mail: becraft@hiwaay.net

Twas the Congress Before Christmas By Senator Kit Bond

Republican Senators Ask Americans to Stop Flawed Health Care Bill

CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF INSTRUCTION

STATE CONSTITUTION (EXCERPT) CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN OF 1963

§ 3 Assembly, consultation, instruction, petition.

Sec. 3.

The people have the right peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

History: Const. 1963, Art. I, § 3, Eff. Jan. 1, 1964
Former Constitution: See Const. 1908, Art. II, § 2.

TO: Washington, DC Office

Senator Debbie Stabenow

133 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: (202) 224-4822

e-mail: senator@stabenow.senate.gov

WASHINGTON

Carl Levin

269 Russell Office Building

U.S. Senate

Washington, DC 20510-2202

Phone (202) 224-6221

Fax (202) 224-1388

TTY (202) 224-2816

8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

senator_levin@levin.senate.gov

Dear Senators Levin and Stabenow,

It is my understanding from the news reports that you are scheduled to vote in this Illegal and Unconstitutional Health Care Reform Act on Monday at 1 am.

I am putting you on CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF INSTRUCTION that you do not have any LEGAL CONSTITUTIONAL authority to vote yes on this issue. Therefor, you must vote no or you will be in VIOLATION of your OATH OF OFFICE and subject to removal.

Congress lacks the constitutional authority to regulate and control the practice of medicine in the jurisdiction of the States.

See Linder v. United States, 268 U.S. 5, 18, 45 S.Ct. 446 (1925) ("Obviously, direct control of medical practice in the states is beyond the power of the federal government");

Lambert v. Yellowly, 272 U.S. 581, 589, 47 S.Ct. 210 (1926) ("It is important also to bear in mind that 'direct control of medical practice in the States is beyond the power of the Federal Government.' Linder v. United States 268 U.S. 5, 18. Congress, therefore, cannot directly restrict the professional judgment of the physician or interfere with its free exercise in the treatment of disease. Whatever power exists in that respect belongs to the states exclusively.")

Oregon v. Ashcroff, 368 F.3d 1118, 1124 (9th Cir. 2004) ("The principle that state governments bear the primary responsibility for evaluating physician assisted suicide follows from our concept of federalism, which requires that state lawmakers, not the federal government, are 'the primary regulators of professional [medical] conduct.' Conant v. Walters, 309 F.3d 629, 639 (9th Cir. 2002);

Barsky v. Bd. of Regents, 347 U.S. 442, 449, 74 S.Ct 650, 98 L.ED. 829 (1954) ('It is elemental that a state has broad power to establish and enforce standards of conduct within its broders relative to the health of everyone there. It is a vital part of a state's police power.') The Attorney General 'may not...regulate [the doctor-patient] relationship to advance federal policy.' Conant, 309 F3d at 647 (Kozinski, J., concurring).")

And certain features of this proposed law will certainly be unconstitutional; see:

United States v. Constantine, 296, U.S. 287, 56 S.Ct. 223 (1935) "We think the suggestion has never been made -- certainly never entertained by this Court -- that the United States may impose cumulative penalties above and beyond those specified by state law for infractions of the state's criminal code by its own citizens. The affirmative of such a proposition would obliterate the distinction between the delegated powers of the federal government and those reserved to the states and to their citizens. The implications from a decision sustaining such an imposition would be startling. The concession of such a power would open the door to unlimited regulation of matters of state concern by federal authority. The regulation of the conduct of its own citizens belongs to the state, not to the United States. The right to impose sanctions for violations of the state's laws inheres in the body of its citizens speaking through their representatives. So far as the reservations of the Tenth Amendment were qualified by the adoption of the Eighteenth, the qualification has been abolished. (emphases added)

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Article. IV.


Section. 3.

Clause 2: The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN

OF

1835

ARTICLE I

BILL OF RIGHTS

Political power.

First. All political power is inherent in the people.

Right of the people.

2. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people; and they have the right at all times to alter or reform the same, and to abolish one form of government and establish another, whenever the public good requires it.

Right to assemble and petition.

20. The people shall have the right freely to assemble together, to consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives, and to petition the legislature for redress of grievances.

Acts void.

21. All acts of the legislature contrary to this or any other article of this Constitution shall be void.

Name

Address

There Is No Way Out Of This Box....

NUMBERS DON'T LIE, ONLY PEOPLE DO"

THE MARKET TICKER

... that does not involve serious pain.
Go ahead folks - tell me how we can simply ignore this.

How we can pretend that the outstanding debt does not have to come back down to reasonable levels.

That these levels are "reasonable" - and that these rates of growth are "reasonable."

This is the "magic of compounding" writ large - and in a fashion that is going to inflict severe pain on our population - and the longer we wait to deal with it, the worse it will be.

Bernanke, who was at The Fed during Greenspan's time there, should have used his "education" - his claimed knowledge of economics - to make a lot of noise about this and demand that interest rates NOT be lowered to further encourage more debt-based consumption.

He did exactly the opposite.

As this decade wore on he should have sounded the alarm on our debt binge in all sectors, especially in the financial and consumer sectors where the growth in indebtedness has been the highest.

He did exactly the opposite.

Since this crisis began, in fact, every single government official who has spoken on the matter has emphasized even more lending, that is, cranking the amount of debt outstanding even higher, and The Federal Government has made good on their intent by, in the last year, spending more than $1.7 trillion dollars they did not have - that is, they borrowed even more.

Let's just take ONE example of this: Larry Summers, President Obama's "chief economic advisor", thought he could outrun the math at Harvard - where he gave approval to enter into complex derivative trades. They blew up in the school's face:

The swaps, which assumed that interest rates would rise, proved so toxic that the 373-year-old institution agreed to pay banks a total of almost $1 billion to terminate them. Most of the wrong-way bets were made in 2004, when Lawrence Summers, now President Barack Obama’s economic adviser, led the university. Cranes were recently removed from the construction site of a $1 billion science center that was to be the expansion’s centerpiece, a reminder of Summers’s ambition. The school suspended work on the building last week.

“For nonprofits, this is going to be written up as a case study of what not to do,” said Mark Williams, a finance professor at Boston University, who specializes in risk management and has studied Harvard’s finances. “Harvard throws itself out as a beacon of what to do in higher learning. Clearly, there have been major missteps.”

MISSTEPS? This is fifth-grade math! It is willful and intentional ignorance of fundamental and basic mathematics over the last 30 years that is the proximate cause of the mess we are in today - a mess that to this very day none of these jackasses will come out and talk about or have an honest debate over! FULL STORY

Anti-Gun Senator Shoots Intruder

74-year-old N.C. state senator shoots, wounds intruder at his home

TABOR CITY, N.C. — A sheriff says a North Carolina state senator shot one of two intruders at his home and hospital officials say the man is in fair condition.
Multiple media outlets reported that Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten said that 74-year-old Sen. R.C. Soles of Tabor City shot Kyle Blackburn late Sunday afternoon.

A spokeswoman at Loris Community Hospital in South Carolina said Monday that Blackburn was in fair condition.

Batten says the shooting occurred when two men went to the senator’s house and tried to kick in his front door. No charges have been filed.

The sheriff’s office said the State Bureau of Investigation was handling the case. A call to an agency spokeswoman was not immediately returned. There was no answer at a number listed for Soles’ home.

The Democrat has been in the Senate 32 years. Source

Olbermann's Pledge: I'll Go To Jail Before Buying ObamaCare Insurance

By Mark Finkelstein
December 16, 2009

Maybe Leavenworth has a TV studio Keith could use . . .

On tonight's Countdown, Olbermann vowed to break the law and go to jail if ObamaCare requires him to buy private-sector health care insurance. Keith made his macho boast in the course of his melodramatic Special Comment this evening. FULL STORY



Why the mad rush to pass this garbage called health care reform? Keith Olbermann and Howard Dean are saying that it just benefits the industry at the cost of the people. How about Wall Street? How can Wall Street benefit from this health care reform? Well, lets see, if government controls who can have what treatment, and your old and ill, and you have a nice life insurance policy to sell so you can get the money you need, wall street and the insurance companies can make out very well.

HOW WALL STREET AND THE FEDERAL RESERVE PROFIT FROM OBAMACARE

CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE.

Lets see, how does this work now, Wall street will bundle these purchased insurance policies into bonds, then sell them to investors.

The treasury asks bids for several million dollars worth of bonds. A banker says he will take a million dollars worth and credits the treasury on his books with a million dollars.

Then he deposits the bonds with a federal reserve agent as collateral security for a million dollars in federal reserve notes and agrees to pay the cost of printing the currency - about $300. He now has a million dollars in currency to balance the million dollar deposit he credited to the treasury.

He still owns the bonds and can credit the interest, about $20,000 a year on an investment of $300.

Of course these numbers are from 1937 but the transaction is the same.

The Scranton Times
Monday April 19, 1937 p. 16

Washington, April 19 – Representative Lamnick (D. Ohio ) told the house today the federal reserve system is committing legally “the greatest burglary in history.

Criticizing the system in the midst of a plea that the budget be balanced to avert “calamity,”…the Ohioan said that for a $300 investment a bank could get a $20,000 return.

“If a burglar had a license to steal,” he said “he would at least have to carry away his loot. The federal reserve system has it’s loot brought to it.”

Lamnick said this was the procedure for a steal” authorized by congress.

The treasury asks bids for several million dollars worth of bonds. A banker says he will take a million dollars worth and credits the treasury on his books with a million dollars.

Then he deposits the bonds with a federal reserve agent as collateral security for a million dollars in federal reserve notes and agrees to pay the cost of printing the currency – about $300. He now has a million dollars in currency to balance the million dollar deposit he credited to the treasury.

He still owns the bonds and can credit the interest, about $20,000 a year on an investment of $300.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

And what happened to Arthur P. Lamneck after he spilled the beans on this? CLICK HERE to see that he was never able to get elected to any office again.

What a great way to make money while getting rid of all of us old sick people at the same time.

Peter Schiff debates David Epstein of Columbia University -- Nov 11 2009

Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean urges defeat of emerging health care bill

Isn't this what we have all been saying all along. Thank GOD Howard Dean finally saw the LIGHT.

By Associated Press
December 16, 2009, 8:40AM

WASHINGTON -- Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean argued Wednesday that the health care overhaul bill taking shape in the Senate further empowers private insurers at the expense of consumer choice.

"You will now be forced to buy insurance. If you don't, you'll pay a fine," said Dean, a physician. "It's an insurance company bailout." Interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said the bill has some good provisions, "but there has to be a line beyond which you think the bill is bad for the country."

"This is an insurance company's dream," the former Democratic presidential candidate said. "This is the Washington scramble, and it's a shame." FULL STORY

WASHINGTON DC Counting on Americans to be STUPID.

Senate passes $1.1 trillion spending bill with 5,000 earmarks.

The bill, which includes $447 billion in appropriations for a number of cabinet departments and $650 billion for Medicare and Medicaid, combines six of the 12 annual spending bills Congress had been unable to pass separately because of Republican concerns that the measure is over-inflated and exceeds the cost of inflation in its government budget increases.

Republican fiscal hawks Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), as well as centrist Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), were among the Republicans who voted against it. Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Evan Bayh (Ind.) voted against it while GOP Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.) voted in favor of it. FULL STORY



He says those who have made their voices heard at the Tea Party rallies speak for millions of Americans who have grown tired with how business has been conducted in Washington and “how it is mortgaging our future to buy votes today” on healthcare and other issues.

The senator says the latter is a recipe for disaster that failed in Russia and China. He also criticizes the $1.1-trillion spending bill that passed last weekend laden with 5,000 earmarks as the latest example of the Democrats’ fiscal irresponsibility.

“It still tells you that the people running Washington don’t get it,” DeMint said. “We are in the middle of a recession of Americans losing their jobs, and they’re passing spending bills. These are discretionary, non-mandatory bills that are 15-20 percent above last year in some cases, and we don’t need to be doing that at a time when we’ve got debt that is completely unsustainable.”

Democrats, he says, think Americans are “stupid” and will forget about the healthcare fight in next year’s midterm elections, but he promises that will not be the case. FULL STORY

Glenn Beck Daily Clips

“FINANCIAL BILL WORSE THAN HEALTHCARE MEASURE”

BY SARAH FOSTER

“I know that’s hard to believe, but it is worse in the sense that every American makes financial transactions,” said Michele Bachmann, who represents the people of Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District. “We all use credit cards, we all write checks. This will all now be controlled by government, and government will ration credit. You can’t have capitalism without capital, and government will decide who gets capital and who doesn’t.”

“The entirety of this bill -- all pinned together like this -- hasn’t even gone through committees,” Bachmann said. “It just went on the floor for three hours of debate. It’s a complete government control of the financial services industry and no one knows about it!”

They do now. Late Friday, despite a surprisingly unanimous Republican opposition, the House approved H.R. 4173: The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. The vote was 223-202, with not a single Republican voting in favor and 27 Democrats voting No. Two Republicans who were present did not vote. FULL STORY

Michigan Announces Unique Cyber-Security Partnership With Feds

Dec 15, 2009

In a move that could change security monitoring for states nationwide, Michigan announced it will deploy the federal government's network monitoring system EINSTEIN 1. The system, which all federal agencies are required to use, is run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The federal-state partnership is the first of its kind, which Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm hopes will increase the types of cyber-threats Michigan can detect. The project could have implications for similar ones in others states in the future.

"It will enable greater federal and state coordination to promote mutual cyber-security interests and, if successful, will inform the efforts of state governments to enhance their own cyber-security efforts," Granholm said in a statement.

Michigan's collaboration with the DHS will include services from the agency's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which will identify possible abnormal activities on Michigan's networks and address threats to the cyber-infrastructure. FULL STORY

Don't You Wish We Could Just Sit Back and Enjoy the Holiday Season? But, no, the Obama Administration seems Hell-Bent on Jamming Through as much as th

By MelindaW2009, El Cajon CA

“Dems Threaten Nelson In Pursuit of 60”

While the Democrats appease Senator Lieberman, they still have to worry about other recalcitrant Democrats including Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Nelson's demand that taxpayer money not be used to fund abortion has still not been met. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line. FULL STORY

Bill of Rights Day 12/15/09

Public Reading of Bill of Rights Will Commemorate American Freedom

Public Seems Eager To Enforce BOR Against the Feds Outrageous usurpations motivate the public -- and the states -- to push back

Phoenix will honor Bill of Rights at the exquisite Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix, on the day it was first ratified in 1791.

An evening you won't forget, with special guest "George Washington," and a solemn reading, out loud, from a parchment copy of the document that changed the world. Refreshments, companionship, a splendid time is guaranteed for all. FULL STORY

Prisoner at center of ‘KopBusters’ campaign may soon be freed

By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, December 12th,

The woman at the epicenter of a Texas filmmaker's crusade against allegedly corrupt police may soon be freed thanks to a federal judge's decision to vacate her sentence.

Yolanda Madden, who was jailed in 2005 after being convicted of possession of and intent to distribute narcotics, was the reason that Barry Cooper came to Odessa, Texas last December. After being hired to embarrass the local police by Yolanda's father Raymond, Cooper set up a fake marijuana grow house and baited officers to stage an illegal raid. When they did, police were confronted by an empty house and lots of cameras, with a hand-written poster explaining they had become part of a new reality show called "KopBusters".

For Yolanda, the stunt was just the beginning of efforts to secure her freedom. Cooper and Madden's father insist Odessa officers planted the narcotics she was jailed for.

At a Thursday evidentiary hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Junell granted a motion to "vacate, set aside, or correct" Yolanda's sentence, effectively guaranteeing a new trial and possibly her freedom, according to CBS 7 in Odessa.

Poll: Weigh-in on Michigan's smoking ban in public places

I encourage everyone to Weigh in on the Smoking Ban Poll. But, before you make your feelings known, keep in mind that this issue is about Private Property Rights, not about smoking. If you didn't read my article on "Is Michigan's New Smoking Ban Constitutional???" please take the time to do it now.

Then read Jason Gillman's article "The cost..." posted on Right Michigan.

Now, your ready to take the poll in the Bay City News. CLICK HERE.

You might also want to write to your state legislators and "INSTRUCT" them that they have violated their oath of office by voting for this ban. They do not have authority to VIOLATE PERSONAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

STATE CONSTITUTION (EXCERPT)

CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN OF 1963

§ 3 Assembly, consultation, instruction, petition.
Sec. 3.

The people have the right peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

History: Const. 1963, Art. I, § 3, Eff. Jan. 1, 1964
Former Constitution: See Const. 1908, Art. II, § 2.

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Section 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original states, and the people and states in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:

"Art. 2. ...And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall in any manner whatever interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide and without fraud, previously formed.

City of Muskegon has added several new “user fees”

Muskegon is having the same problem as the State and Federal Governments. Keeping enough money in the general fund to pay it's employees wages, medical and pension. So while the rest of us struggle to keep food on the table and a roof over our head, the City of Muskegon figures out ways to charge more for services that we as citizens could do for ourself.

By Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle
The city of Muskegon has added several new “user fees” for 2010 and increased others as it attempts to keep its finances above water in the face of revenue declines from state and local sources.

User fees are important to the city’s $23.9 million general fund, accounting for more than $2 million in revenue.

“It’s significant revenue,” City Manager Bryon Mazade said. “We try to set the fees with an eye towards making them commensurate to the services provided.

Other new 2010 Muskegon fees or changes include:

• $50 for a “going out of business sale” permit, as prescribed by state law.

• 5 cents per label for voter registration mailing labels.

• $800 for a storm sewer connection.

• $25 for a sports field setup, an increase from $10.

• $15 for planning department documents on a disk.

• $50 for the Muskegon Channel picnic shelter rental.

• $50 for picnic table reservations at Margaret Drake Elliot Park.

FULL STORY

Federal Employees live far better than YOU, their employer.

While we loose more jobs to other countries, our unemployment rate (if you look at the true numbers) is now double digit, we are being forced in the real world to take pay cuts, work two jobs, loose our homes and our dignity, BUT look how our Federal Employees are doing.

For feds, more get 6-figure salaries

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.

Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.

USA TODAY analyzed the Office of Personnel Management's database that tracks salaries of more than 2 million federal workers. Excluded from OPM's data: the White House, Congress, the Postal Service, intelligence agencies and uniformed military personnel.

The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector. FULL STORY

G. EDWARD GRIFFIN, Austin Texas, Dec. 10, 2009

A Crash Course On Money

G. Edward Griffin, author of The Creature from Jekyll Island; A Second Look at The Federal Reserve, conducted a one-day seminar on money in a Austin, Texas. How to earn it, protect it, and make it grow in troubled times.

Excellent Special Edition of Rule Of Law. Archived broadcast live from the G. Edward Griffin lecture in Austin. Standing room only. Sizzling intro by John Bush, CC2009 Delegate from Texas.

You have saved the expense of gas in getting to this event. Click on the Dec. 10th program at this web site and understand that the tide is turning in America

YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE

Dr Ron Paul: Your Chances Of Survival

The Dr brings us up to date on where he believes the globalist agenda is, and what their next moves will be in the coming months.

Tasered/Beaten Pastor on Trial for His Beliefs and Preaching?!?!?!

Pastor Anderson is on trial next week for 2 misdemeanors: failure to obey an officer's order and obstructing a public highway. There will be a hearing on the constitutionality of the border patrol checkpoint on Wednesday, Dec 16, and there will be a 2 day jury trial on Thursday and Friday, Dec 17 and 18. The trial is open to the public and is being held in Yuma, AZ.

The prosecutor is trying to enter Pastor Anderson's sermons as evidence against him (?!). Sermons like "Gender Identity," preached only a few weeks ago and having nothing to do with this incident. Also his YouTube video entitled "911 was an Inside Job" along with many others.

Isn't this a free country? Do my Biblical and political opinions make me a criminal? What is happening to America?

Please spread this video by commenting on it, rating it, facebooking it, blogging it, digging it, et

Is Michigan's New Smoking Ban Constitutional???

I came across two articles this morning by the same writer, J Gillman, both on the new Smoking Ban. House Bill 4377 (Prohibit allowing restaurant or private workplace smoking)

Private workplace smoking? Does this mean that I can't smoke here in my little office at home if I want to? It is where I work. Just because I don't get paid to report on my blog doesn't mean it isn't work. It takes up a good portion of my time every day. It's in my home on my PRIVATE PROPERTY. Can this new law dictate to me?

The answer is that this NEW LAW is VOID on it's face. It is out of reach of the legislators to even debate let alone legislate it. But, none the less, it will be enforced until someone decides to challenge it in court. The only way to do this is to violate it, get caught, (it's called civil disobedience) and ask for a jury trial.



Mr. Gillman's outrage is the number of Republican Legislators who voted for this very un-Constitutional Bill. He even put together a chart so all of you will know who to vote out of office. But don't stop with just the RINO Republicans, go after the Democrats who voted for this, after all, if it's un-Constitutional, it's UN-CONSTITUTIONAL. Right?

Mr. Gillman writes:

Why is it always the WRONG 5%?

The concept of private property is something the founders of this country believed in deeply. The most basic ownership being your person, yourself, your physical being. To serve that self you have ownership of other things; the clothes you wear, the tools you use, the property on which you stand.

That very basic understanding indeed, a basic agreement as provided for by our maker.

But apparently some folks didn't learn the basics. And now, we witness even more interference in the private affairs of our state's constituents, and arguably another nail in the coffin for Michigan business owners rights.

The Republicans however, will at least have held the banner as ..well "Republicans." Those who would uphold the law, protect the constitution, serve our steadfast beliefs that our founding document is the law of the land. It is unwavering and protects us against government usurpation of power, or perhaps even of our self interest. FULL STORY

AND:

Michigan Taxes Too Much

Michigan burdens its Taxpayers as well as other Michigan Issues, Satire, and Commentary

Pathetic.

By jgillman, on December 11th, 2009

And I am not talking about the Democrats on the “YES” list.. I am talking about Republicans.. So Called Republicans.. RINO. The Dems don’t get a pass, its just they probably could care less what this conservative Republican thinks. Its enough for me to note the lack of a sense of liberty in most who carry the most appropriate logo of the Jackass for their flag bearing. FULL STORY

Now, how would one know if something passed by the legislator is un-constitutional or not. I guess you would have had to read the Michigan Constitution starting from the very beginning, when Michigan stopped being a Territory and became a State in 1835. You can find this on the Legislature web site under Historical Documents, or just click on the link below.

CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN

OF

1835

In convention, begun at the city of Detroit, on the second Monday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty five:

Preamble.

We, the PEOPLE of the territory of Michigan, as established by the Act of Congress of the Eleventh day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and five, in conformity to the fifth article of the ordinance providing for the government of the territory of the United States, North West of the River Ohio, believing that the time has arrived when our present political condition ought to cease, and the right of self-government be asserted; and availing ourselves of that provision of the aforesaid ordinance of the congress of the United States of the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and the acts of congress passed in accordance therewith, which entitle us to admission into the Union, upon a condition which has been fulfilled, do, by our delegates in convention assembled, mutually agree to form ourselves into a free and independent state, by the style and title of "The State of Michigan," and do ordain and establish the following constitution for the government of the same.

Are you reading this Preamble? We The People of Michigan mutually agree to form ourselves into a FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATE? And assert our RIGHT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT?

Now what most people will tell you is "I have rights". Great, what are they? Your legislators just took some of those Rights away, didn't they? Maybe not. You see, in the 1835 Constitution of Michigan, your RIGHTS are spelled out, in plain english, and no one can take these away, not matter how many times they amend our State Constitution, these Rights are set in stone.

The 1835 Michigan Bill of Rights states:

Acts void.

21. All acts of the legislature contrary to this or any other article of this Constitution shall be void.

I know, your going to tell me that you looked for this in the 1963 amended Constitution, Article I, Declaration of Rights and this clause isn't there. BUT, what is in the 1963 Declaration of Rights, (which by the way means the same thing as Bill of Rights) is this:

§ 23 Enumeration of rights not to deny others.

Sec. 23.
The enumeration in this constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Now, what does the Courts have to say about these Rights of Ours that are Self-Evident?

"As in our intercourse with our fellow-men certain principles of morality are assumed to exist, without which society would be impossible, so certain inherent rights lie at the foundation of all action, and upon a recognition of them alone can free institutions be maintained. These inherent rights have never been more happily expressed than in the Declaration of Independence, that new evangel of liberty to the people: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident' — that is so plain that their truth is recognized upon their mere statement — 'that all men are endowed' — not by edicts of Emperors, or decrees of Parliament, or acts of Congress, but 'by their Creator with certain inalienable rights' — that is, rights which cannot be bartered away, or given away, or taken away except in punishment of crime — 'and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and to secure these' — not grant them but secure them — 'governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.'
Butchers' Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U.S. 746, 756, 4 S.Ct. 652 (1884) J. Fields concurring

AND AGAIN:

"His rights are such as existed by the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the State, and can only be taken away from him by due process of law and in accordance with the Constitution."
Hale v. Henkle, 201 U.S. 43, 47 1905

AND YET AGAIN:

"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections. " (emphasis added)
West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 638 (1943)(Opinion, J. Jackson)

So, if Article I § I of the Michigan Constitution and Bill of Rights (both 1835 and 1963) is correct, then:

Political power.

First. All political power is inherent in the people.

And this is carried over from:

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Section 14.

"Art. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of

… representation of the people in the legislature…"

"Art. 3. "… their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed"

The bottom line is, are you going to accept that the legislators of the state of Michigan have overstepped their authority to legislate 2009 House Bill 4377 (Prohibit allowing restaurant or private workplace smoking ):?

Or will you learn how to Nullify a UN-CONSTITUTIONAL Law and put the Politicians back in their place?

Jury Nullification – Why you should know what it is

by Russ Emal at LewRockwell.com

Is it true or false that when you sit on a jury, you may vote on the verdict according to your own conscience? “True,” you say, but then why do most judges tell you that you may consider “only the facts” and that you are not to let your conscience, opinion of the law, or the motives of the defendant affect your decision?

In a trial by jury, the judge’s job is to referee the trial and provide neutral legal advice to the jury, beginning with a full and truthful explanation of a juror’s rights and responsibilities. FULL STORY