The Federal Reserve System - A Campaign Issue!

by Bill Haynes

Albeit in a small way, probably for the first time since the creation of the Federal Reserve System (in 1913), it has been injected into a presidential campaign.

In the first Republican presidential candidates' debate, Ron Paul, a Republican member of the House from Texas, spoke out in favor of the gold standard. Although Ron Paul's formal education is in medicine, he is qualified to discuss money and economics as he has long studied the works of the great free market economist Ludwig von Mises. Mises is famous for his writings on money and for having exposed the fallacy of a central authority controlling the money supply...

However, discussing the case for gold in a monetary system cannot be done without at least some understanding of the concept of central banking and the Federal Reserve System, which is our central bank, a fact not generally known by most Americans.

When the Fed came into existence, Americans were told that it would put an end to "economic panics," the scare term of late 19th century and early 20th century. In the 1930s, however, the Fed-caused Great Depression made "economic panics" look like rainy days, and today the great scare term is "depression."

The Federal Reserve System and its ability to create money out of thin air facilitate big government. If the Fed did not exist, the government would have to raise funds either by increasing taxes (a politically unpopular thing to do) or by borrowing in the marketplace, competing with businesses and individuals also wanting to borrow. Additional borrowing by the government, of course, increases interest rates and is detrimental to the economy.

So, to finance our welfare state, our wars, and a few good things such as highways, the federal government hands the Fed little pieces of paper called treasury bills and treasury bonds. The Fed, in turn, credits the federal government's checking account in amounts equal to the face value of the bonds, and new money is created out of thin air...

If the gold standard becomes a major issue in this presidential campaign, the American people can only benefit. Americans have little grasp of the concept of money and the deleterious effects of central banks. Americans would need to be much more knowledgeable about the Fed before it could be eliminated.

Meanwhile, with every Republican presidential candidates' debate, Congressman Ron Paul gets the opportunity to wake up a few more Americans to the dangers of fiat money and the Federal Reserve System. If the Democrats had a candidate knowledgeable about money and economics, then we could have a great increase in awareness of the unsound financial structure that underlies our economy.

Goodbye and Good Luck

Iraq had no effect on the American people before President Bush's illegal invasion of it. It has no effect on us now, unless you have loved ones being fed into the meat grinder that is making futility sausage. What possible difference does it make to us who rules Iraq?

As a matter of fact, we should not only pull all of our troops out of Iraq, but also withdraw them from Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and anywhere else they happen to be in the Middle East. If our leaders had the brains to do this, they would discover that the people in that part of the world are quite capable of running their own affairs.

I would also pull out of Afghanistan and say to the government, the Taliban and al-Qaida, you fellows work this out among yourselves, because frankly we don't give a damn. Your hardscrabble country isn't worth 10 bucks, much less the billions we've spent on it. If you need water, dig a well; if you need food, grow it. Goodbye and good luck.

The American people have been conned into accepting the idea of an empire, when there is no need for one. Wherever there is oil, it will be available for sale because it is otherwise worthless, and why should we care from whom we buy it?

What the knuckleheads in Washington have created is an empire of delusions and illusions. It's time for the nation to wake up and adopt a realistic foreign policy, which is trade and friendly relations with anybody who wants it. As for those who don't, we simply ignore them. We don't need to be anybody's enemy.

Proud to be Texan

It sure is nice to have a man like Ron Paul representing Texas. It reminds me of Michael Badnarik in '04, only better.

Democracy

It is one thing to believe democracy is a superior form of government. It is another to worship it, or ascribe to it powers or attributes that can ensure permanent peace among nations. As Douglas MacArthur said, citing Plato, "Only the dead know the end of war."

Democracy means rule by the people, and peoples can be as corrupt and bloodthirsty as tyrants and kings. Today in Moscow, Beijing and Hanoi, Lenin, Mao and Ho – mass murderers all three – lie in honor.

Ron Paul on Fox News

Hitler & Bush

More in common than you might think.

Over 70 years ago, the citizens of another democratic world power elected a leader who promised to protect them from all dangers. In return for this protection, and under the auspice of fighting terrorism, he was given absolute power.

This leader went to great lengths to make his rise to power appear both legal and necessary, masterfully manipulating much of the citizenry and their government leaders. Unnerved by threats of domestic terrorism and foreign invaders, the people had little idea that the domestic turmoil of the times – such as street rioting and the fear of Communism taking over the country – was staged by the leader in an effort to create fear and later capitalize on it. In the ensuing months, this charismatic leader ushered in a series of legislative measures that suspended civil liberties and habeas corpus rights and empowered him as a dictator.

On March 23, 1933, the nation's legislative body passed the Enabling Act, formally referred to as the "Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation," which appeared benign and allowed the leader to pass laws by decree in times of emergency. What it succeeded in doing, however, was ensuring that the leader became a law unto himself. The leader's name was Adolf Hitler. And the rest, as they say, is history.

President Bush has assured us that he will do whatever it takes to keep America safe, and Americans have blindly trusted him. How did he reward that trust? First, he claimed the authority to permanently imprison American citizens alleged to be so-called "enemy combatants." Then he asserted his right to order government intelligence agencies to not only spy on America's enemies but also on Americans. Now he has quietly and unobtrusively granted himself the power to take control of the government in the event of a vaguely defined national emergency.

Quote of the Day

Most atheists now prefer to call themselves agnostics, meaning that even if there is a bare possibility that some sort of God exists, he can’t speak to his own creatures, so we should ignore any messages from him.

And religion is all right, they say, as long as it makes you feel good. Just don’t try to impose it on others by acting as if it’s really true.

Joseph Sobran

Global Warming

Here are the facts on global warming: In the past 100 years, the average temperature of Earth has risen six-tenths of one degree. In the past 100 years, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased about 80 parts per million so that it stands at about 370 parts per million. Sea levels are estimated to have risen 10 to 20 centimeters in the same time frame.

That's it. Everything else is speculation based on computer models, which several scientists say are unreliable. Think. If they can't reliably forecast the weather 48 hours in advance, it's extremely unlikely that a forecast 100 years in the future is worth even noticing.

Computer models are essentially spreadsheets, and there are far too many variables to construct one of the entire Earth and its atmosphere.

Now, here's what you can do about climate change: nothing.

Firefox 2

Is out. Get it here. Now is the time to make the switch from the dreadful IE if you haven't already.