The Market Fundamentalist

McCain tries to rally his base by claiming that judges are “coddling” criminals and citizens are hiding in their homes while criminals “roam free.”

Never mind that violent crime rates have declined steadily over the last decades. Never mind that most states now allow concealed carry laws so citizens look to themselves, not just the state, for protection. Never mind that the states, such as California, are groaning under the fiscal and moral weight of overcrowed prisons. Never mind that America has one percent of its total populaton behind bars, more than China or Russia. Never mind that prosecutors get overwhelming conviction rates of 95%, and defendants plea bargain even when innocent to avoid going to trial. Never mind that the late chief Justice of the US Supreme Ct frequently spoke out against the rising tide of federal crime legislation. Never mind that 400,000 Americans are in prison for victimless crimes. Never mind the DNA innocence project and other investigations are uncovering numerous examples of innocent people convicted of capitol and other serious crimes. Never mind ….

Oh, never mind. Obama is no better on criminal justice policy. Neither candidate has spent much time even discussing it until McCain’s desparate and out of touch Hail Mary speech.

Brendan

t is the lie that Herbert Hoover was a “laissez faire” do nothing and FDR was a “strong leader” who “created the middle class” through government interventions that has fed the media frenzy for the bailout this last week.

Neither myth is true. Herbert Hoover was no laisez faire ideologue. He was a dyed in the wool Progressive who believed in the Progressive myths of an enlightened elite that would manipulate the economy and society through scientific principles applied through civil service bureaucracies. He was an engineer who had done good work in bringing relief to famine stricken areas of the world but it was a big mistake to believe that his engineering background could successfully manipulate a free society or a complex economy.

Hoover created the FCC, and nationalized the new radio broadband spectrum, giving us the unconstitutional distinction between freedom of the press and government censorship of the airwaves. He was instrumental in creating other big government bureaucracies, including the FAA.

When the stock market tanked, he refused to allow the markets to weed out the bad investments by letting the bad malinvestments fail. There would be unemployment, although probably only for months, not years, if Hoover had let the markets work. Instead, he called on big business leaders to keep wages and therefore prices high, and resist cutbacks. He raised taxes,and pushed through the Smoot Hawley tariff. The tariff, designed to protect American workers from foreign competition in order to “save jobs”, instead spread the depression around the world as countries retaliated by raising their tariffs, and trade ground to a halt.

Roosevelt followed the same protectionist, big government strategy as Hoover, only he went further by imposing fines, creating the fascist NRA (declared unconstitutional after a suit by two brave Jewish chicken growers from Brooklyn), useless make work projects that did nothing to increase productivity, keeping prices high by ordering “surplus” meat and grain to be destroyed, confiscating the citizens gold, and ending convertability of the dollar to gold, thereby setting the grounds for the continuous inflation we have lived with since 1932.

None of Hoover’s or Roosevelt’s interventions worked, they all failed, and the Depression dragged on until finally Roosevelt essentially nationalized the economy by entering World War II. That allowed him to impose wage and price controls, which led to the current employer based health insurance system, which plagues us today.

It was only after the war, in the return to normalcy 1950’s, that the economy recovered to be close to what it was in the 1920’s.

But then, Lyndon Baines Johnson gave us the roaring 60’s, and brought big government and soaring inflation back again.

The Federal Reserve’s fiat money pumping is what keeps the boom and bust cycle going, fueled by the same Progressive social engineering that produced the quotas for poor and minority home ownership, the subprime mortgage mess, and the current meldown.

When the American people told Congress not to bail out the banks, that was Main Street common sense. When the bailout happened, spurred on by mainstream media know nothings and establishment economist know it alls, that was the ugly spectre of Hoover and Roosevelt raising its “do something quick” big government ugly head.

Are we in for another ten year depression? If we continue to allow these interventions, we may be.

But, thanks to Ron Paul, and the internet, we have much more knowledge of the harmfull effects of government intervention. We are already involved in two wars, so mobilizing the country for war is not going to help us forget our problems. We have a chance to bury the ghosts of Hoover, Roosevelt, and big government interventions, including the Federal Reserve, if we act decisively in the months ahead.

Brendan

On the debate:

Obama claims he never pimped for FANNIE Mae. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Truth fact—Obama wrote that letter in 2007, after the mortgage and housing markets were tanking. McCain was little better.

Only Ron Paul knew in 2003…right, Barney?

Both want to stabilize home prices and keep people in their homes. So, now the idea is to prop up mortgages with government (taxpayers) money. So, you and I will be paying for the homes purchased with welfare checks as collateral. Good idea, fella’s. I guess I won’t be getting that Flip this House DVD after all.

Both parties got us into the crisis–YEA! That lady knew her stuff, that’s a town hall question, Yeah!

McCain the reformer–McCain the first amendment champion! The Energy Independence hero! The climate change hero! All Hail McCain the masked marvel of the Senate !

earmarks smearmarks, What is 16 billion when we’ve been talking 700 billion all week?

Energy independece again. 700 billion dollars overseas! To countries that hate us! Like Canada, and Mexico, and Britian, and Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. They hate us, hate us, hate us.

Moral support for the Ukraine and Belarussia and Georgia and /free membership in Nato?
Do them do them now!

Energy…it could go up! Let’s see, we have to have Alternative Energy—ka ching! And Cap and trade-Ka Ching! And don’t forget T-Bone! Ka Ching!

Middle class tax cuts? Why not, when energy policy will soak the poor and the middle class for every dime they save and then some.

Sacrifice for the state!

Examine every agency! Defense ? Ok one point for MCain, he said he would examine the defense department pork.

Spending freeze except for defense? Why should we freeze defense, we only spend more than the rest of the world put together, John boy!

Obama – a Call to service. Double the Peace Corps! Only a politician would call paid make work a call to service, and a paid program “volunteering”.

We need to think about how we use energy? Does that include Al Gore? Oh wait, if he uses too much electricity in his mansion, he pays his own carbon credit corporation.

We must Buy a safe and efficient car built in America? Why, Senator Obama? I want my BMW! Please! If I work in the Peace Corps will you buy me a BMW?

McCain admits Hoover raised taxes! He really is a maverick!

Walk in clinics? McCain, we have those now. They are in Wall Mart.

Government mandates and fines for health care? No way. Government doesn’t tell you what to do, it just gives you free stuff.

Go across state lines for insurance! All right, McCain, you finally got a good point out there.

Give people choice! Reduce mandates! He said affordable health care (not affordable health insurance). McCain is now on track, too bad we will need all that government health care for the boys who die overseas, John.

Health care is aright, for every American! Obama says you all deserve a nurse by your bed and an ambulance on call. Viagra for every male, botox for every female! He just won the election.

Children are cheap to insure! What planet is Obama from?

State by state find a state where there are no protections…so you can buy insurance from any state (McCain) so that means all the bad insurance companies will move to Arizona…and what, Senator? Somehow, that doesn’t frighten me.

McCain laughs at Obama because he will announce he is going to attack Pakistan, and that will cause resentment. So, John, unannounced sneak attacks do not cause resentment? Just asking.

Good for obama : turned that Teddy Roosevelt thing right around. So speaking softly is singing “”Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.”

McCain: I was just joking with an old veteran, you know how we old veterans love to joke about killing women and children, heh, heh.

Who was right or wrong about the surge? They mention it, but no real analysis.

No cold war but not the behavior of a wealthy nation to throw its weight around, John? Er, the US was wealthy at one time, and we kinda throw our weight around, don’t you think?

Russia’s naked aggression? Is that like naked short selling? Are you Sure Georgia had nothing to do with it, gentlemen?

Obama wants to send foreign aid to all the Slovak nations, except Russia! Break out the Kilbasa, honey, the check is coming!

Obama : we must anticipate dangers before they happen—like when do governments actually do that, Senator? Can you name one time the CIA has been right in the last century. Or is that just liberal neocon speak for premptive war?

We must cut our Energy use –starve ourselves- to hurt Russia? Can’t I just cut off my nose to spite my face?

Is anyone out there FOR a 2nd holocaust? Raise your hand, please! OK, the gentleman with the funny mustache in the back row..

Iran –that Old canard that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map. So, lets impose sanctions, enrage the Iranian middle class, and give the Ayatollah more power . Yea, that’s the ticket! Sanctions always hurt the guys at the top, not the MIDDLE CLASS, right Senators?

Yes, Senator McCain, let’s invade some countries we don’t even know where they are at. Like, maybe Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Georgia,

We have Unprecedented problems? Yeah, like we were never involved in two land wars in Asia and a depression. Hey, but that’s government—always creative, always coming up with new problems for the politicians to make us miserable over.

Brendan

from and Email post to Renopeace.org

The Savings and Loan Institutions were unstable business entities created by Congress. The plan was for deposit savings (The Savings Part) to fund home mortgages (The Loan Part.) This is unstable because long term loans generally have lower returns in interest income than the liability that short term deposits have in owed interest.

Congress gave them special tax breaks and other privileges so they could pay more in interest than ordinary banks, thereby attracting the deposits that would fund the mortgages.

The free market would never have created Savings and Loans. If the arose, they would not last long in a free market without Government Subsidies.

So, the Savings and Loans were an example of Central Planning gone awry. ( Central Planning means a central government agency PLANS an outcome (in this case more home ownership) and provides directives ( in this case tax breaks and other subsidies) to achieve the centrally planned goal. It is the cornerstone of socialism, communism, and social engineering in a mixed economy.

In the 1970’s the entire nation suffered the whiplash effect of decades of big government, in particular the GREAT LEAP FORWARD of the 1960’s Guns (Vietnam) and Butter (The Great Society) era. Nixon followed this by unilaterally ending the POST WAR BRETTON WOODS international monetary agreements, and took the US off the international gold exchange standard. (1972) . This led to the rise of OPEC, rapid inflation, high unemployment, and high interest rates. This was called STAGFLATION. It marked the end of Keynesian economics, which had predicted that stagflation was impossible, as the dominant economic theory of political economy.

Gosh darnit (to paraphrase Sara Palin) if Jimmy Carter didn’t recognize that something major was afoot, and he appointed PAUL VOLKER to head the Federal Reserve. Volker then used the theories of Milton Friedman, called Monetarism, to end the stagflation by cutting the money supply and letting interest rates rise (float) even higher.

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Much ink being spilled over the bailout from all sides as they scramble to dissociate themselves from the unpopular vote.

Governments all over the world are attempting a similar bailout scheme, and not allowing normal bankruptcy proceedings to sort things out.

I fear a great depression is in the works. The state is continuing the same failed interventions it always does, trying to avoid the inevitable price deflation through more inflation.

Hold on to your assets, the shit is going to hit the fan!