By Ron Paul
Select politicians, government officials, economic elites, and experts arriving at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland were greeted with an open letter signed by more than 250 billionaires and millionaires. The signers request their respective governments raise their taxes. The letter signers are concerned about “inequality” that they say “has reached a tipping point.” The cost of this inequality “to our economic, societal and ecological stability risk,” the letter continues, “is severe — and growing every day.” They may have a point. Since the 2008 market meltdown, resentment against those at the top of the income ladder has been growing. However, this is not because people are envious of those able to profit in a free market. Rather, the resentment is rooted in the corporatist system that rewards those who manipulate the political process. If the signatories to the letter want to truly end the type of inequality that fuels populist rage, they should stop calling for tax increases and instead call for an end to government programs and policies that benefit the rich and powerful. Included are programs like the Export-Import Bank that subsidize large corporations, health and safety regulations that cartelize markets while failing to protect consumers, and interventionist foreign policy that enriches the military-industrial complex while making the rest of us poorer and more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The Federal Reserve is the leading cause of inequality. This is not surprising considering it was created at the behest of bankers and rushed through Congress just before Christmas when few Americans were paying attention. Many Americans became aware of how the central bank tailors its policies to benefit the financial elites following the 2008 meltdown. Then, the US government, enabled by Fed money printing, bailed out large financial institutions while average Americans suffered. The Fed had been helping big firms for many years. In the 1990s it was common for the Federal Reserve, then under the leadership of Alan Greenspan, to pump money into the market in response to apparent crises. This was named the “Greenspan put” by the financial press. The new money would help some companies and their wealthy owners, while reducing most Americans’ purchasing power. Middle- and working-class Americans suffer the brunt of inflation, which is properly defined as the central bank pumping money into the economy thus reducing the dollar’s purchasing power. In a free market, most people will be able to have a satisfactory standard of living and recognize that the “super rich” earned their fortunes by offering goods and services that served the needs and wants of consumers while providing good jobs at good wages to fellow citizens. In contrast, in a “mixed economy” supported by a fiat money system, the average person will suffer a steady erosion of his standard of living thanks to the central bank’s inflationary policies, while the crony capitalists prosper. This is a recipe for social instability. Those concerned with the detrimental effects of rising resentment of income inequality should support repealing all federal programs that reward crony capitalists — including programs masquerading as providing national defense. They should also work to audit then end the Fed.
Just the term "Bidenomics" should make Americans cringe. It implies that government is outside and above actual and immutable economic laws. Whenever you see "omics" appended to a politician's name, beware. You're being fed yet another fictitious "narrative." You don't need the government or the media to "explain" your economic situation to you. Their "explanation" will rarely, if ever, match reality.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) is demanding answers after discovering that the Biden Administration has instructed government officials to flag financial transactions for financial institutions for people using politically sensitive words such as "MAGA" and Trump." Also today: The kids aren't buying the climate change religion...and a British lefty group wants to punish them for it. Finally...another round of attacks on Yemen fails. What next?
By Chris Rossini
The last thing a citizen should desire is for his nation to be a militant empire. It's a recipe for disaster. It means constant war, constant propaganda, and ultimate bankruptcy. History is littered with so many examples of failed empires that it's amazing human beings continually refuse to learn a lesson. From the Romans, Macedonians and Greeks, to the Persians and Ottomans. Don't forget Napoleon, Hitler and the Soviets. And how can you forget the British and (with great irony) the country that separated from the British ... America! America? Even America would make the mistake of empire? You bet it would, and did. And we're the lucky ones who get to pick up the pieces. Was the separation of the American colonies really about liberty? Or was it about creating yet another empire? King George III thought it was the latter, saying: "The rebellious war...is manifestly carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire." Was King George III right? It didn't seem so at first. America, while certainly not the Garden of Eden, was the land of the free compared to the Old World of the 1700's. Prosperity naturally followed. After all, freedom allows for creativity and innovation. It allows for the accumulation of capital and investment of that capital into productive enterprises. Up until about 1900, Americans could have said with confidence: "King George III was wrong! We're not an empire. We have no colonies and don't meddle in the affairs of other nations. We're not trying to conquer the world. We don't participate in foreign coups, or provide 'foreign aid.' We don't support 'freedom fighters' or arm one side (or both sides) of foreign wars." Not only did America mind its own business, the federal government was an insignificant part of the lives of the average American. Americans didn't make up fictional "rights" and expect the government to grant them these "rights." Americans didn't receive handouts, or pay any income tax! But then things changed around 1900 ... for the worse. Of course, all change starts with the change of ideas. Listen to what Senator Albert Beveridge said around this time. He said that God made Americans "the master organizers of the world to establish system where chaos reigns...He has marked the American people as His chosen nation to finally lead in the regeneration of the world." But that's just one person, right? After all, we have Lindsey Graham today. It doesn't mean Americans agree with Graham (thankfully). Well, then you had President Woodrow Wilson, who claimed: "We shall give all that we love and all that we have to redeem the world and make it fit for free men like ourselves to live in." These are the words of empire. We humans have the ability to delude ourselves. Politicians are professionals when it comes to delusions. This change of ideas was buttressed by a "progressive" ideology. Remember, it all starts with ideas. No longer would Americans be in the driver's seat of their own lives. Government was going to take over and micromanage all aspects of our lives. They would do this "scientifically," of course. "Experts" would guide Americans on how they should live. Americans would take this "progressive" delusion and export it onto the world, by force. After all, if "experts" can dictate how Americans must live, why stop there? Let's dictate how the whole world should live! It's all "scientific," so don't worry. At this time the income tax came along as well. Now the federal government had its hand in every person's pocket. You don't "redeem the world" for free you know. But even that wouldn't be enough. You can only tax away so much. Well, the shackles would be locked onto American ankles with the founding of the Federal Reserve. The Fed would have a monopoly on the money, and could counterfeit it into existence. The government would have it's very own, shiny printing press. Government could now tax Americans with inflation, and the people will never know. The people will think that merchants are being "greedy" when prices skyrocket. They won't figure out that it's actually the government's printing press. It's amazing how things can go downhill so fast, isn't it? It has only been 120 years (which is a blink of an eye) and American liberty and prosperity have been snuffed away. The government is $34 TRILLION in debt and counting. That can't be paid, so there will have to be a financial day of reckoning. And America has about 1,000 military bases peppered all over the world, and is at constant war...."redeeming the world." So was King George III right? Well, if you look at America today, how can you say that he wasn't? It's evident that Americans, over our 248 year history, have had two ways of living. One -- with limited government, tremendous freedom, tremendous prosperity, and minding our own business when it comes to other nations. And the other -- the biggest government in the history of the world, freedom that is hanging on by a thread, and bankrupting ourselves by interfering everywhere in the world. If we want to go back to freedom, we need to adopt those "old" ideas again. We need to ditch the "progressive" and "expert" nonsense. Politicians cannot run our lives. They can only ruin our lives by trying. We should set our sites on making sure that King George III ends up being ultimately wrong when it's all said and done.
Connor Boyack is the founder of the Libertas Institute and the author of the highly influential "Tuttle Twins" series of books geared toward teaching young people about freedom and liberty.
Former President Donald Trump won the first in the nation primary by an historic margin, leaving Nikki “Nipping At Don’s Heels” Haley far in the dust. What does this say about the American voter considering the numerous indictments and other lawfare tools being used against him? Also today: Iran retaliates as DC sends more troops to the region.
As could have been predicted, several rounds of US and allied airstrikes on Yemen have failed to "de-escalate" tensions with the Houthis, who have declared that they would halt shipping to and from Israeli ports in response to Tel Aviv's destruction of Gaza. In a bind, what will Biden do? Also today...Netanyahu tells the truth. Finally: US watched as American journalist died in Ukrainian dungeon.
By Ron Paul
Late last week President Biden started a new US war on the tiny country of Yemen. US warships and fighter jets launched more than a hundred missiles at the country in a massive escalation that the Administration bizarrely claimed would “de-escalate” tensions in the Red Sea. Taking the US to war without a Congressional declaration of war is a grave crime against the Constitution. Not only did Biden show no interest in coming to Congress for a war declaration, he didn’t even ask for authorization. Together with Washington’s reliable junior partner in war, the UK, Biden attacked Yemen. It seems the US Administration consulted more with the UK government than with the US Congress on the attacks. But that’s not really the worst part. Far from taking action against this illegal move by an out-of-control president, Congress as a body couldn’t even see fit to criticize the Administration. On the contrary, Congressional leadership in both bodies actually applauded President Biden for brazenly violating US law! House Speaker Mike Johnson not only praised the illegal move, he urged the President to go further and confront Iran. He said, “This action by U.S. and British forces is long overdue, and we must hope these operations indicate a true shift in the Biden Administration’s approach to Iran and its proxies that are engaging in such evil and wreaking such havoc.” To their credit, several Members of Biden’s own party joined with a handful of Republican colleagues to denounce a US president taking the country to war without the authority to do so. California Rep. Ro Khanna was one of the first Democrats to criticize Biden’s warmaking, stating, “The President’s strikes in Yemen are unconstitutional. For over a month, he consulted an international coalition to plan them, but never came to Congress to seek authorization as required by Article I of the Constitution.” The Framers of the Constitution gave war-making power to Congress because they understood that leaving such power in the hands of one person was a recipe for disaster. The role of the president is to make the case for a war declaration. Congress deliberates and either authorizes or refuses the proposed action. Washington has obviously not learned the lessons of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and all the other failed US interventions over the past 20 years. Why do we keep losing wars? Because we do not go into wars according to the US Constitution. This war will be no different. The Houthis in Yemen withstood years of attacks from the Saudis using the latest US weaponry and came out on top. To this point they have not been targeting US vessels in the Red Sea, but only ships heading to or from Israeli ports. They are doing so in opposition to Israel’s destruction of Gaza. In short, it was never our war. But now, with this attack, Biden has made it our war. So we are left with the strange and sad spectacle of Congress asleep at the wheel as a Defense Secretary launches military strikes from his hospital bed in the service of a president clearly not in his prime. All this in pursuit of a policy that makes no sense and is leading us closer to a major war in the Middle East that will only harm, not serve, the US national interest.
The U.S. has decided to bomb yet another Middle Eastern nation, this time the Houthis in Yemen. Once again, this has nothing to do with the security of the United States, and once again Congress has not declared war - which makes this action blatantly unconstitutional. It's evident that we (and our representatives!) have been relegated to being mere spectators as a small handful of people in government place our lives and property into significant danger.
Iran has seized the exact cargo ship seized by the United States last year, raising the stakes in the Middle Eastern tinderbox. The US seized the ship and confiscated the million barrels of Iranian oil as a punishment for violation of US sanctions. Now the Iranians are likely to "get their oil back" from the exact same (renamed) ship, this time carrying Iraqi oil. Also today: US moves closer to seizing Russian assets and Speaker Johnson pledges the US to defend Taiwan.
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