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Current Commentary

August 2010:
..Cut payroll taxes
..No bailouts: transfer, adjust
..Let home prices fall
..Japan's 1900s deflation

July 2010:
..Cut or big deficits
..AZ Immigration law
..70 years of tax & spend
..Robbing tomorrow
..Cut the payroll tax!

May & June 2010:
..Inflation-free bailout?
..Ross Perot's lesson
..Looming tragedy
..Another bailout lie
..Costly IRS mandate

April 2010:
..Goldman fraud
..Ban financial derivatives
..Reform must-haves
..GM's mischaracterization
..5 years of unemployment

March 2010:
..Building with spoons
..Reforms = higher prices

February 2010:
..Eliminate public pensions
..How to raise $500 billion
..Deflation is natural

January 2010:
..Grab for your 401k/IRA
..City Hall protest

December 2009:
..TARP scam
..Federal pension myth
..Obama's commandeering
..Unemployment figures

November 2009:
..Gold: never below $1000
..Gold's newest price

October 2009:
..How to hurt companies
..Bailed-out banks' pay
..Gold's price rise
.
September 2009:
..Fed's mortgage impact
..Disagreeing w/ Bernanke
..50% tax bracket

August 2009:
..Cash for clunkers: BAD!
..Buffet on the dollar

July 2009:
..$1,000,000 for a slogan
..Financial sleight of hand
..A central planning failure

June 2009:
..Buy a home recently?
..Inflation, coming up

April 2009:
..Boos at a teaparty
..Gold price spreads

March 2009:
..Trillion-dollar lie
..$1T monetized debt
..Consumer prices up
..Interest rates up?
..What they don't tell you

February 2009:
..Pomp, but no substance
..Bet on inflation

January 2009:
..Stimulus package debt
..Monetary base doubles
..New Deal, or raw deal?
..Women & clothes
..Home prices in gold

December 2008:
..More money, less housing
..4% mortgage rates
..FREE MONEY!!!
..Gas prices
..Work for $1 a year?
..5 times Chrysler deal




Wednesday, February 25, 2009 

Obama address:
pomp and circumstance, and little substance

What I wouldn't give to be on the same drugs Pelosi is on. I may come off as a pessimist and a malcontent, but I'm really just a realist. Sometimes I wish I could see The Emperor's New Clothes, but no matter how hard I try I can't see them.

Let's review some highlights:
  • Did anyone else pick up on the hypocrisy when half the chamber stood and cheered at Obama's mention of the deficit he inherited? How many of those standing and cheering do you think voted for budgets and bills that created that deficit?
  • Would anyone other than me love to see a year-by-year breakdown of the 2 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years? And who here would be willing to bet most of those projected cuts take place closer to year 10 than to year 1?
  • Anyone else take note of how, while he harped on the 95% of Americans getting a tax cut figure, he made no mention of the size of those cuts? That's because those tax cuts you'll get are a pittance. It reminds me of loan officers who can get a client to fully commit without even quoting them a rate, but by just promising "it's gonna be a really good rate." Obama could sell bubblegum in the lockjaw ward at Bellevue.
  • Is anyone else getting tired of the constant use of the word "crisis" and see it as a scare tactic to justify a centralized power grab?
  • Did anyone else catch how he cracked a wide smile that bordered on bursting out into laughter when he said his version of "I don't believe in big government?"
  • Did anyone else think, "If it's safe, there is no need to tell me it's safe," when he said, "Your money is safe in banks." You know there's a banking problem when the President is telling you there is not one. If your money were safe, there would be no need to address it. But given how our fractional reserve system works, the powers that be recognize the real danger that mass withdrawals would pose.
    My advice:     Calculate what you need for 6 months of living expenses and leave that in cash; pull the rest out and convert it into physical gold and silver.
I've heard more than one person ask, "How are we going to pay for all of this?" And more specifically, "How are we going to pay for this without raising taxes?" That is a great question, and there are only two answers: print or borrow. We already sent Hillary panhandling to China. When you send your Secretary of State to your biggest lender to try to convince them that you are credit worthy and that lending you more money is smart, that is international, white collar, Ivy League, advanced-degree-holding panhandling. Our borrowing needs are already outstripping real lending capacity, and we have already started to print money to fill the gap. The rate of printing will increase, and sometime between the 4th of July 2009 and the 4th of July 2010 we are going to see runaway inflation, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1970s. Given the growth rates of the monetary base and the trailing growth rate thus far of the overall money supply, it's going to be much, much worse. The best way you can protect yourself is to get any wealth you have out of paper instruments and into real tangible stuff.


Tuesday, February 10, 2009 

Anyone else find Obama's spending plan
news conference disturbing?

I mean truly disturbing. Specifically his digging his heals in on the point that government -- and only government -- can get the economy going again. More specifically his idea that "when private sector demand/consumption drops off, government demand/consumption must increase to fill the void."

From a common sense point of view, he is advocating that we all work for/serve the government. If we-the-people produce it and the government consumes it, for whom are we working? What master are we serving? Have you ever wondered just how they built the pyramids? I'm not speaking of the architectural or engineering feat involved, I'm talking about the population control. How did the Egyptians get so many people to serve the state?

Watching Obama's public plea to take control of an additional 5% of everything that is produced within our borders, I thought of the similarities of modern day Republicans and Democrats. They both want to effectively enslave us. The Republicans' method is through big business; the Democrats' method is through big government. The really scary thing is that for the last few years the Republicans have been supporting big government, and the Democrats are now upporting big business. History has shown time and time again that power in the hands of the few is dangerous.

Anyway you slice it or dice it, power stands to become more concentrated and more centralized within the hands of the few in the coming years. I can only hope that we the people wake up to this and revolt in the voting booth before it is too late. I would define "too late" as the point when the 1st Amendment and the 2nd Amendment are eroded to the point of impotence.

Thursday, February 05, 2009 

Proof that the smart money is betting on inflation

Spreads on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS, a fixed income investment that adjusts its payout to investors as prices for consumers increase) versus the 10-year treasury note shot up by a factor of 10 after the House passed their version of the stimulus plan. This proves that institutional/professional money mangers foresee consumer prices increasing as a result of the stimulus package. This is not the sort of thing Katie Couric will be telling you on the evening news.