It doesn't matter which stage of life you happen to be in, the Fed is ripping you off. Being forced to use a currency that is perpetually losing value, until it loses all value is a terrible deal. Money must return to its rightful place in the market.
US Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) joins today's Liberty Report for an update on Washington and Capitol Hill. Does the Russia hysteria show any sign of slowing? Are tariffs the new flavor in town? What about the mid-terms?
'What Is The Empire's Strategy?' - Col Lawrence Wilkerson Speech At RPI Media & War Conference8/22/2018
Does the US empire have a strategy? Why does the US go from blunder to disastrous blunder in the Middle East and Near Asia? Is there an objective? Col. Lawrence Wilkerson delivers the first speech at the Ron Paul Institute's 2018 Washington conference.
After 17 years of fighting, the US continues to lose the war in slow motion. Each year the Taliban gains ground. Meanwhile the US spends billions of dollars, kills untold numbers of civilians, and makes negative progress. Blackwater founder Erik Prince wants the US to privatize the war and hire his company to fight it. Is that a viable solution?
By Daniel L. McAdams
As I begin writing this, my innocent 13 year old little girl is in tears sitting in the terminal at Reagan International Airport. Somewhere back at the TSA checkpoint there is a middle aged woman who has just, in clear view of law enforcement, committed a sexual crime against her, a minor child. I have it all on film. I nearly went to jail. The TSA agent continues her crime spree. Returning from the Ron Paul Institute’s Washington conference, where my family all pitched in to make the event possible, we found ourselves at the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint. To this point in our occasional travels, my wife had been able to accompany our two young daughters through the metal detector, while my teenaged son and I had been forced to undergo a “pat-down” because we refused to submit to the scanner. All of a sudden this time was different. An aggressive TSA officer barked that my 13 year old girl could not accompany her mother and younger sister through the metal detector, but rather would have to submit to a “pat-down.” Meanwhile my 10 year old daughter had already been sent through the detector and was far out of our sight on the other side of the machine. That made me anxious, as it would any parent. They would not allow my wife through to accompany the 10 year old, insisting she had “opted out” and must wait for “female assist.” She had done no such thing. We had no idea where our 10 year old was, no idea where our possessions were, and no one would let my wife through to re-join her. It was obvious retaliation for our refusal to go through their machine. I strongly objected to the separation of my family. I was told to not raise my voice. Finally they allowed my wife through the detector to join our 10 year old. Then they ushered my son, my 13 year old daughter, and me to undergo a “pat down.” I watched in agitation as a woman put on gloves and began to grab my young daughter’s genitals. I yelled at my wife to catch it all on the iPhone and she did. As Agent Cohen started my own pat-down it was clear he was agitated. He did not like that we dared object to their demand for total submission. He began his run across my genitals and I turned my head to watch the sick scene of my 13 year old being assaulted. BAM! Agent Cohen’s hand banged my genitals and I nearly doubled over. “What a sick way to make a living,” I commented. That was all it took for Agent Cohen. He was immediately on his radio calling for the police. I asked him the reason for calling the police. “Interfering with an investigation by moving during a pat-down,” he answered. I was to be arrested because I happened to move as he jabbed me in the groin! I dared to express displeasure over being subject to his sexual assault. For that reason I “deserved” to be arrested. Fortunately the Washington Metro Police Authority officer was cool and calm. He did not seem surprised at our situation at the hands of an extremely aggressive TSA. He asked our side of the story and then asked whether I required medical attention. I declined medical attention but remain in pain. He then encouraged us to discuss the matter with a TSA supervisor, which we agreed to do. The TSA supervisor was a man of I would estimate 60 years. He first spoke to Agent Cohen, who lied that my wife had “opted out” and that was why she was forced to separate from our 10 year old. The supervisor then turned to me and explained that once a child turns 13 that child is considered an adult and thus subject to a full body pat-down if the child refuses to go through the scanner. I threw him off guard, asking him, “are you a father?” I repeated the question. “I am a grandfather,” he replied. “How would you feel if your young daughter or grand-daughter was forced to submit to a woman grabbing her genitals?” His face darkened: “I wouldn’t like it; I don’t like it at all.” “It’s sick what our country has become,” I added. “It sure is,” he agreed. “But there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s policy.” I know some who will read this will smugly scoff that I should not fly at all. But is that a solution? We go around the world bombing for “peace and democracy,” while at home middle aged women sexually assault little girls in plain sight “for our own good.” To “keep us safe.” But hey, it’s “just policy.” My daughter has stopped crying now. But like all crime victims, that does not mean the pain is over.
By Ron Paul
One of the most insidious ways politicians expand government is by creating new programs to “solve” problems created by politicians. For example, government interference in health care increased health care costs, making it difficult or even impossible for many to obtain affordable, quality care. The effects of these prior interventions were used to justify Obamacare. Now, the failures of Obamacare are being used to justify further government intervention in health care. This does not just include the renewed push for socialized medicine. It also includes supporting new laws mandating price transparency. The lack of transparency in health care pricing is a direct result of government policies encouraging overreliance on third-party payers. This phenomenon is also observed in foreign policy. American military interventions result in blowback that is used to justify more military intervention. The result is an ever-expanding warfare state and curtailments on our liberty in the name of security. Another example of this is related to the reaction to President Trump’s tariffs. Many of America’s leading trading partners have imposed “retaliatory” tariffs on US goods. Many of these tariffs target agriculture exports. These tariffs could be devastating for American farmers, since exports compose as much as 20 percent of the average farmer’s income. President Trump has responded to the hardships imposed on farmers by these retaliatory tariffs with a 12 billion dollar farm bailout program. The program has three elements: direct payments to farmers, use of federal funds to buy surplus crops and distribute them to food banks and nutrition programs, and a new federal effort to promote American agriculture overseas. This program will not fix the problems caused by Tramp’s tariffs. For one thing, the payments are unlikely to equal the money farmers will lose from this trade war. Also, government marketing programs benefit large agribusiness but do nothing to help small farmers. In fact, by giving another advantage to large agribusiness, the program may make it more difficult for small farmers to compete in the global marketplace. Distributing surplus food to programs serving the needy may seem like a worthwhile use of government funds. However, the federal government has neither constitutional nor moral authority to use money taken by force from taxpayers for charitable purposes. Government-funded welfare programs also crowd out much more effective and compassionate private efforts. Of course, if government regulations such as the minimum wage and occupational licensing did not destroy job opportunities, government farm programs did not increase food prices, and the Federal Reserve’s inflationary policies did not continuously erode purchasing power, the demand for food aid would be much less. By increasing spending and debt, the agriculture bailout will do much more to create poverty than to help the needy. Agriculture is hardly the only industry suffering from the new trade war. Industries — such as automobile manufacturing — that depend on imports for affordable materials are suffering along with American exporters. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (who supports tariffs) has called for bailouts of industries negatively impacted by tariffs. He is likely to be joined in his advocacy by crony capitalists seeking another government handout. More bailouts will only add to the trade war’s economic damage by increasing government spending and hastening the welfare--warfare state’s collapse and the rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. Instead of trying to fix tariffs-caused damage through more corporate welfare, President Trump and Congress should pursue a policy of free markets and free trade for all and bailouts for none.
Gold is money, despite the propaganda saying otherwise. Don't be the last to know this important fact. Ron Paul discusses on today's Liberty Report!
Back in the 1990's, global debt was $40 Trillion. Today it's at an astounding $250 Trillion! The dishonest monetary system is a massive bubble looking for a pin. The ideas in favor of sound money are more important now than ever before.
Senator Rand Paul has stressed the importance of normalizing relations with Russia rather than the status quo of diplomatic isolationism. He recently returned from a trip to Russia and discusses his progress on today's Liberty Report!
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