Saturday, September 24, 2011

GOP Frontrunner: Ron Paul (updated 9/25)

 By Dan Beaulieu


(Google Trends capture taken 09/24/2011, timeline 1 month)

Judging by the ratio of the peoples interest, it is evident, that Ron Paul is indeed the GOP front runner. If you look at the "News Reference Volume" you can see who the media darlings are. Ron Paul is not one of them by a long-shot. If Dr. Paul is doing this well without the aid of the media, imagine what this chart would look like if the media was catering to him equally as opposed to completely ignoring him. Not only dose the media ignore Ron Paul, they smear him every chance they get which causes people to be misled on his views.

I cover why media bias against Ron Paul exists in more depth here: Media Bias

If you take away the bias of the traditional polling systems we have we get much different results. For example, land-line phone polling caters strongly to older individuals as most people under 35 (link) use cell phones and cannot be polled. Although this opposite is true with internet polling and should be taken into consideration as there are considerably less older people involved in online polls, its to a much lesser extent.

However these numbers cannot be ignored over phone polling, they must both be taken into consideration. Here is an online poll that was conducted on MSN, it was advertised on TV and appealed to a wide demographic. Keep in mind you could ONLY vote once on this poll.


At 128,066 votes and besting 2nd place Mitt Romney by 97,404. I think its fair to say that the people have spoken.

Ron Paul is the GOP Frontrunner.

Edit:


In response to a likely bigger media coverage of straw polls, now that Ron Paul "finally" hasn't won one (FL), I believe a lot of people will argue that straw polls are suddenly very important.
When someone does that, i believe the proper answer should be: yes, they are! They show depth of support among usually politically more engaged and active folk.
And here are Ron Paul's results:
2nd in IOWA straw poll (0.9% less than 1st)
1st in CA straw poll
1st in CPAC straw poll
2nd in GA straw poll (0.3% less than 1st)
1st in Oklahoma straw poll
1st in RLC straw poll
1st in NH straw poll
5th in FL straw poll
4th in Michigan straw poll
(Thank you to dailypaul.com and user 'rememberliberty' for compiling this) 



Thursday, September 22, 2011

The American Way Abandoned.

By Dan Beaulieu
updated 9/28

Instilled deep within us is the pride of what it means to be an American. That pride is derived from the notion that, in our country, our values and our way of life is superior to those of other countries. Indirectly, that pride pays homage to our founding forefathers for establishing and protecting those values in our Bill of Rights.

Our founding forefather’s vision for America was based not only on their recent emancipation from the British oppression, but also from their collective knowledge of history and mankind’s past mistakes. They understood the evolutionary process of how a society could transform from freedom to totalitarian empire by studying the mistakes of so many failed governments that came before us. With that knowledge, they created a safeguard; the Constitution was written to shield us from the otherwise inevitable fate of tyranny and ultimate self-destruction.

I can’t articulate enough just how privileged America is to have a heritage of such great revolutionary thinkers. These intellects have sculpted America into the greatness that it became and their words still resonate to this day, hundreds of years after their deaths. However, just as most privileged children naturally do, we live our lives simply pursuing our own priorities while taking for granted the great gift of liberty bestowed upon us. We fail to understand the necessity of demanding that our legislators remain diligent in upholding the constitution.

“If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.” - Thomas Jefferson

It’s the nature of the government, to continually expand and rarely, if at all, retract. These expansions are almost always at the peril of our constitution; our personal liberties. The income tax is a perfect example of this unconstitutional expansion. Although there have been taxes dating back to antiquity, the first U.S. income tax legally declared was in 1861 as a “temporary tax” to pay for the Civil War, which then expired in 1871. The income tax was tried again in 1894 but was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. However, in 1913 they found a way to pass the income tax, by writing a 16th amendment. The income tax was passed into law under President Woodrow Wilson after the 16th Amendment was ratified.

It won support by the masses under the guise that it would only affect 1% of the richest Americans. “Soak the Rich” was the twisted banner the people rallied to. Just a few short years later the tax didn’t just include the rich, it expanded to incorporate the vast majority. This example displays both the relentless persistence and the deceitfulness that we were warned to keep in check.

Oftentimes, when these intrusive laws are sold to us, the lawmaker first designates a purported evil. In the case of the income tax it was “the rich”, drawing them up as unethical thieves who are leeching off the poor anyway. The privileged children buy into the propaganda and rally support to justify battle against an ostensible evil. This evil takes many shapes: race, creed, class and sexual alignment to name a few. We must never give into this, as selling out our fundamental principles only opens the door for totalitarianism.

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” - Thomas Paine

It is my personal belief that the decline of our founder’s moral virtues greatly accelerated in the dawn of the 1900’s. Between bad legislation, central economic planning, wealth redistribution, war propaganda, unconstitutional and undeclared wars, military occupation, the nanny welfare state, the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency along with the conception of hundreds of tax funded bureaucracies. They, in concert, brought on the complete annihilation of our forefather’s vision, and welcomed even worse legislation into existence…

The precipice of desecration came shortly after September 11th 2001, where, for security, we traded our civil liberties and welcomed with open arms The Patriot Act. This horrific legislation represents the worst transgression against our civil liberties that we have ever encountered. A Trojan horse of sorts, just as with the income tax in 1913, we bought into an evil, and sold out our principals to combat it. The impulse to accept such a devastating law rested in the obvious anger, fear and strong desire for vengeance which clouded our prudence to fully deliberate what exactly we were signing on to.

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Since the Patriot Act’s incarnation we are so far removed from our roots and fundamental morals we now employ… Freedom of speech zones, security checkpoints, unwarranted surveillance, torture, indefinite detention, forced inoculations, sneak and peak searches. This act violates everything that our Bill of Rights stands for. We have turned our back on our moral values in the name of “The War on Terror”... in fear.

You might ask yourself what the motives are for such transgressions, and although I believe that answer is centered on control, I know it is extremely multifaceted, simply meaning that there is no specific answer. So I once again draw reflection on Thomas Jefferson’s logic, “It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.” Once we failed to be vigilant in the protection of our founder’s great gift, that our “general nature” will slowly consume our freedoms. One of the worst unconstitutional displays of control is Obama’s new Super Congress which has usurped all power from the congress, thus silencing the voices of the American people. Make no mistake, America is now an oligarchy.

“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right and raises at first, a formidable outcry in defense of custom.” - Thomas Paine

Have we ushered in the age of the Orwellian big brother society? When the people of the United States have come to the point of openly applauding the idea of a colossal razor wire barrier that encompasses our borders, I think it’s apparent, that we truly have strayed from American fundamental principles. This whole notion brings frightening images of the berlin wall to mind; images of prison guard towers with razor wire glistening from the searchlights. What a disturbing vision for America, our Army standing at the border as we deign to the level of North and South Korea.

It's strange that people don't understand that all we need to do is change the appealing climate our government has set for illegal immigrants and our problem would be solved. Between welfare, tax breaks, entitlements, scholarships and hand-outs... why wouldn't they want to come here? If we remove those elements, suddenly the climate for illegals is diminished, and the desire to come here altogether fades drastically. That notion, coupled with an easier pathway to citizenship, is the only way, the moral way, to stop the immigration problem.

Big Brother is truly watching us all. Since 9/11 our privacy has been drastically diminished. Between the TSA groping’s in airports, subways, football games and even proms we are no longer secure in our persons. With wiretapping and warrantless sneak & peak searches we are no longer secure in our homes. We now see video monitors installed at banks, fast-food restaurants and Wal-Marts with looped videos of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano urging us to spy on our neighbors saying, “If you see something, say something”. This is designed to invoke a constant state of tension and fear of looming terrorist threat. Furthermore, new legislation has come forth which would allow the government to take over the screens on your smart phone for urgent Presidential Addresses. The underlying message of “give up your freedoms and the government will keep you safe” prevails.

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Has the age of the Military Industrial Complex that Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about come to fruition? Our politicians bequeath cartels and handouts to colossal conglomerates in trade for career-making campaign funding. These large super companies own financial institutions, energy companies and healthcare establishments amongst a great many other things. They control our data flow through printed and televised media which gives them the opportunity to portray events or legislation in a light that benefits their cause. At the same time the same company will also produce the various tools and weapons of the war. Our government then gives other countries our tax dollars in the form of foreign aid with the condition that they use that aid to buy our (company’s) munitions.

This conflict of interests insures perpetual war, dishonest media coverage and a duopoly of corrupt lobbyist and bureaucrats in our political system. It also has particularly negative effects on our economy and small businesses. Driving our work overseas and underselling the more heavily regulated and taxed small business. This has killed the American entrepreneur and the dream of our forefathers… This is not how America was to be.

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” - Thomas Paine

The revolutionary war wasn’t just a war of muskets, steel and blood; it was a revolution of ideas. Once again, and long overdue, the notion of revolution has finally risen to the mainstream. The American people are reeducating themselves on the Constitution, studying economic policy and rethinking our role in the world; the privileged children are growing few. Our movement is swimming against the current of big business, political interest and the mainstream media, but still we are within striking distance of reinvigorating the American Dream. We must be wise and choose the correct leader to hold the torch as the path is dark.

“…every generation needs a revolution...” “…at least once every 20 years…” “…a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.” – Thomas Jefferson

Right now that there are several great leaders among us. The People are putting them in offices throughout the nation. The revolution has begun. We now need a true leader in the white house to usher in a new day. Someone we can trust. I believe there is one obvious choice to return America constitutional sanity. There is one obvious choice that will revive our economy and return us to financial prosperity. There is one obvious choice to restore America's name throughout the globe by ending the immoral and unconstitutional wars. With him the sun will set on the dark ages of intellect, and bring forth a new day. We must defend the American Pride that is our heritage by upholding the constitution. You can choose to stop buying into the duo-political system that enslaves us and vote for an idea. You can choose to restore the American Dream.

“I am an imperfect messenger, but the message is perfect.” – Ron Paul

Some people believe the constitution is out-dated and simply will not work in today’s age, but logic perseveres, our founders were not simple men. America is just a newborn child in comparison to our civilization as a whole, and even in ancient times there were governments. Each fallen Empire became a testament of man’s “general nature” and how it shifts governments into Empires. Studying the triumphs and failures of man kinds past, our founding fathers created the constitution to stop history from repeating itself. We cannot be so vein as to think their logic doesn’t transcend both time and technology, as their logic was forged from 10,000 years of civilization. Their logic is sound.

Regardless of opinion, let’s look at the facts. We’re hated globally for our occupation, we’re $14.7 Trillion in debt, and we’re being spied on and groped by our own government. We’re broke and on the verge of collapse.

History is about to repeat itself one way or another: Collapse or Revolution.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

For those of us who have forgotten: The Declaration of the United States of America


 Since we've seemed to have forgotten our heritage:

The Unanimous Declaration
of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: 

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states: 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent: 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses: 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies: 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments: 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. 

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton 

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry 

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery 

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott 

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris 

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark 

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James 

Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross 

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean 

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton 

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., 

Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton 

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn 

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton 

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton 

Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Is Ron Paul Wrong About 9/11?


Dan Beaulieu
09/13/2011
Reddit
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9/11 is an evasive subject for many, fortified under a coveted veil of loyalty. Akin to the contumacious devotion a mother has to her child. As she turns her head away from any undesirable realities that may ensue; we simply believe in our beloved’s innocence. Regardless of your stance on 9/11, we owe it to the men,  women and children who died that day to investigate the available facts, to disconnect the mother-child temperament, if only for a moment, to perhaps enlighten ourselves to a superior wavelength, or maybe to simply solidify our prior convictions. It’s been 10 years and I think we’re strong enough now to take the blinders off.

Osama Bin Laden was a terrible person for the hell he bestowed upon us, no doubt. It wasn’t just the single act of violence that took place on 9/11. It's the decade of lost freedoms, fear, perpetual war, nation-building and militarism persued by our government and private interests that are fighting (aka profiting from) "the war on terror". 

This has provided Osama with success on two counts: One, that he wanted to destroy our economy. Two, That he wanted us on his land so that he could "target us better". Unfortunately, we fell right into the trap that Osama laid for us. It was a maniacal and calculated plan to collapse us. But what was the reason?

As a nation living with the “mother-child” mentality we seemed to be fine with the answer that George W. Bush gave to congress on September 20th of 2001, "They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other". (1) No fact, no real substance behind it, just the knowledge that it would pull hard on our heartstrings and rally our support to go to war.

I think today we are strong enough to listen to another view as to why the attacks took place. A more probable view backed up with fact, substance and conviction. That is, the view of Osama Bin Laden himself in 2002:

"While seeking Allah's help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:
(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
(Q2) What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?
As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:
(1)   Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.

(i)                 Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for it heavily. “


“(b) You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon.”

“(d) You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of you international influence and military threats. This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world.
(e) Your forces occupy our countries; you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands, and you besiege our sanctities, to protect the security of the Jews and to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures.”

It goes on… (2)


Is it really so hard to believe that due to our foreign policy of intervention, choosing allies, occupation and war that we would one day experience some form of blow-back? It wasn't just the past 10 or 20 years, Palestine has been under foreign occupation for more than 80 years, and we assisted that occupation every step of the way. Did we really get attacked on September 11th simply due to the fact that we are free? I think we all know the answer, but can we break away from the “mother-child” mentality long enough to admit it?







(1) In an attempt to keep this writing short  I won’t go into the possible reasons as to why George Bush Jr. would lead us from the truth but I will provide you with a link to a great writing I found informative written by a respected Theologian Dr. David Ray Griffin (Link)


(2) Osama Bin Laden goes on to explain in detail exactly what we did to make them attack us on 9/11. Read more here: (Osama's Letter)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Rebuttal: Republicans Vs. Economics

Rebutting: Republicans Vs. Economics by



As clear logical thinking people, we must transcend the notion that a good idea has to be wrapped in a blue or red package. We cannot move forward as a species if we can’t break free of the paradigm and defeat the duopoly that confines and defines our school of thought. The only thing that can come from this is spiteful narrow minded results that makes its bed in blissful denial. I am not, by definition, a republican, libertarian or a democrat. I am an iconoclast of sorts.

Now for the rebuttal.

Although your entry was well planned out and was an overall good read, it was also partisan to a fault. That is, it rallies to the blue team to such an extent that it denies your readers of obvious truths. The reality is that neither side would have stopped the default, nor would they have turned the economy around. The problem is Keynesian economics as a whole.

The economic bubble has been forming for years due to the quantitative easing efforts of Alan Greenspan as he forced interest rates down. Quantitative Easing is when the central bank (the Federal Reserve), buys up financial assets to inject our fiat currency into our cash pool. (Quantitative Easing Explained

Obama’s Stimulus Packages are an extreme form of Quantitative Easing, where the government simply injects an exorbitantly large amount of fiat money into the economy. To some that sounds like a good thing, more money = more prosperity, right? Unfortunately this isn’t how it works, for every dollar the fed injects our total money supply is devalued by that amount. So essentially there is no gain, just a huge loss of value.

So, despite your arbitrary praise of the Democratic Party and despite the other “team” blaming Obama for the collapse. This was doomed to happen regardless of who was in office due to the poor economic policy of “central economic planning”. What caused this was the long-term ritual of devaluing the dollar. 

Now here’s a hard truth about Obama’s economic policy and stimulus. In 1971 gold was $38 an ounce, this is when we went off the gold standard. 37 years later, just before Obama took office (2008) gold was $737 an ounce. Now, just 3.5 years later, due to Obama’s immense stimulus, gold is at $1895 an ounce.

Take that in. Set aside all bias and partisanship and look at the situation logically. In 3.5 years under Obama’s administration gold went up by $1158, whereas in the previous 37 years it only raised a mere $699. Ask yourself has Obama’s stimulus really helped? I think the answer is obvious and to ignore this is just an act of pure partisan denial.

Let me briefly explain why raising taxes in a recession would only hurt the economy, this is simple, undeniable logic... Let’s say the average paycheck is $500.00/week (gross) and after 29% taxes the take home is $355.00/week. Let’s also say this person’s bills are $275.00/week. That leaves him with a spending limit of $80 per week. So at the end of the week this individual has $80 to essentially pump into the local economy. Now let’s raise taxes on this person to say 34%. Now that changes his take home from $355 to $330/week, thus reducing his additional spending cash to $55/week. Now, is this person more likely to go out and spend money or less likely? $25 isn’t much of a difference but extrapolate that by 300,000,000. That damages true economic growth substantially.

I would just like to clarify, that the notion that the money still exists within our government and that the government will still use this money in an effective way is just senseless. There has been no solid evidence of fiscal responsibility in the past as our government has been seen on countless occasions throwing money to the wind. An individual spending his money on what he/she wants is what determines the market. The government can manipulate the market with our tax dollars to an extent but it usually creates a false sense of prosperity for “choice companies” and thus, doesn’t last as we can tell from recent history.

I am curious to know if you actually know anyone who owns a small business and how hard it is for them to function with the heavy taxes and regulations that they succumb to. Do you really believe that deregulating and shrinking the federal register will actually hurt the economy? If so, please explain. 

I’d like to loosely quote the founder of Home Depot (who obviously knows a few things about running a successful business) as saying, “I don’t believe the miracle of Home Depot could be repeated in this day and age due to the current regulatory system”. But what does he know, he’s only made 1,000 millionaires in his day.

Regarding your comment: 

Mark Zandi, the Moody's chief economist who was John McCain's economic adviser, judged that the Obama stimulus passed in 2009 kept unemployment from rising two percentage points higher. He says that the president's new proposal would boost GDP by 2 percent and reduce unemployment by 1.9 million jobs.”
 
First the evidence of this is theoretical as one cannot see into the future, only assume projections of what they believe, or would lead you to believe, to rally support. So, I contest that if Obama hadn’t injected the money that our recession would almost be over. Instead, at this rate and with your mentality, we will be in a recession for the next 10 years. The injection of money into our economy simply gave us a false sense of prosperity. I know this because several noted economists predicted the collapse of these bubbles in 2002. They also predicted what would happen if the stimulus package went through. 

If you could Jacob Weisberg, would you please produce a link to an article of ANY Democrat leader who had actually predicted and warned us about the collapse of our economy? That was a loaded question, as I know that there weren’t any. The only public figures who were documented as seeing the collapse were Peter Schiff, Ron Paul and Gerald Celente. (videos)

I don’t believe that Obama is a stupid person economically speaking, I believe he has a motive behind crashing the economy. But that is a topic for another blog.



Saturday, September 10, 2011

Barrak Obama vs. Ron Paul: Same Message Different Messenger

By Dan Beaulieu
 
I find it amusing the similarities between Obama’s “Change” platform that won him the presidency versus Ron Paul’s noninterventionist ideology, and how they garner very different responses. The popular “Anti-War” platform, not dissimilar to George Bush Jr.’s winning platform in 2000, has been used for years. Presidential candidates often speak of a humble foreign policy and peaceful trade; ralling the people together on the notion of peace and ride the waves of praise all the way into the White House. This could only lead one to the conclusion: the people of the Unites States are tired of war and want real change.

I’ll never forget the images from the 2008 election during Obama’s acceptance speech of so many people crying and hugging, rejoicing in the prospect of “Change”. The idea of peace and trade even won Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples", which has only become controversy since his election as our military presence has grown exponentially and our image around the world only desecrated. Notwithstanding, the American people obviously trusted that Obama would bring home the troops.

So curious is the distinct contrast in people’s reaction to these nearly identical messages, but why? Both of these men in suits champion a noble and humane ideology. However, when Dr. Ron Paul mentions the notion of “minding our own business”, a notion well understood by children on the playground, or “staying out of other countries affairs” he is dismissed as the crazy isolationist loon or Uncle Ronny.

Let’s establish now that he’s certainly not being discredited as Ron the“Crazy Uncle” due to his philosophy on economics, as it’s general knowledge that he predicted the housing bubble collapse of 2008 way back in 2001 (see video) and has been warning us of a full economic collapse since the 1980’s (see video) due to quantitative easing and inflation, not to mention he’s the only candidate with a strategy to actually fix the economy. Ron Paul has announced a plan to cut the deficit by $1 trillion dollars immediately, he understand the severity of the issues.


So one must ask the question, why exactly is he being discriminated with such a similar stance on war to Obama and Bush Jr.? Which such a superior economic understanding that ANY president we've had in probably the last century. Is there a dynamic that we are missing? I understand that there is more to it than meets the eye.

Part of this dynamic is that Dr. Paul isn’t just another “man in a suit”. Unlike the other nominees, when he speaks he speaks with substance, not simply campaign winning rhetoric and canned responses. As previously stated by Doug Wead, Ron Paul’s campaign advisor, Ron doesn’t rehearse responses, that are specifically designed to appeal to you, with coaches behind the scenes. He constructs his answers right there, in the hot seat, and in front of millions of people. Furthermore, unlike George Bush Jr. and Barrak Obama, Ron Paul’s rock solid and principled voting record that spans 30 years suggests that he would actually follow through and produce real, principled and logical transformations that would shake the establishment. Changes that the establishment simply will not have. But then, what exactly is the establishment and how does it alter the general public opinion? This is the other part of the dynamic.

The establishment is the federal government, large corporations, the military and “The Big 6”. To quote www.freepress.net on the subject, “The U.S. media landscape is dominated by massive corporations that, through a history of mergers and acquisitions, have concentrated their control over what we see, hear and read.” What that actually means is that they are able to depict events, by a series of tiny manipulations or misrepresentations, to best suit their interests.

How this relates to “Crazy Uncle” Ron is very simple, let’s take General Electric for example. They own many things including mainstream news outlets like NBC, MSNBC, USA , CNBC, etc, etc. They produce many electronic devices such as explosion detection systems for the Military and aviation systems for the Navy. General Electric (NBC) also makes many of the engines for the Military fighters, helicopters and transports. But what they make the most money from is weapons and ammunition. You can’t have munitions sales without a war (preferably perpetual war) and you simply can’t have a war with Ron Paul as president.*  

So even in championing the same anti-war message, Ron Paul, through many small manipulations and misrepresentations in data, becomes the “Crazy Uncle” whereas the obvious lapdog Obama becomes a Nobel Peace Prize winner for speaking essentially the same message, the difference was intent. Ron Paul intends on ending these wars. (Which may be why he gets more donations from the Military troops than all of the GOP candidates combined.)

Break the paradigm, seek alternative press and support Ron Paul in 2012.

*Ron Paul’s stance on war is that you don’t go to into needless wars.  If war is necessary, however, you don’t go without a declaration and congressional approval. The declaration must also include the definition of the enemy so the war can actually be won unlike the war on terror, you can never win a war on an inanimate object. Once that’s established you get your troops in, you win and you come home. No nation building and No endless wars.