Bush to the Left of Hugo Chavez?

Posted on October 17, 2008 by Joseph

Reuters reports that Hugo Chavez, the socialist president of Venezuela, says that “Bush is to the left of me now.”  He gives the reason when he points out that President Bush, “announced he will buy shares in private banks.”  Hugo Chavez has been criticized for nationalizing his oil industry and other sectors of the economy of Venezuela.  He does have a point that there isn’t much difference.  The article continues to blame it on the crisis we are in but socialism is still socialism.  It never works and it is what got us in the mess to begin with.

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I Can’t Agree With Socialism

Posted on October 16, 2008 by Joseph

Ron Paul was on Fox Business on Tuesday after the President explained how the bailout of banks would be done.

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Wall Street Journal on Monday’s Market Rise

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Joseph

The Wall Street Journal has some interesting facts concerning Monday’s 11% gain in the market. The article, Dow Takes Giant Leap as Bailouts Snap Gloom, explains that this was the fifth biggest percent gain in the history of the Dow.  The other dates on the list are even more interesting.  The top 10 dates except one in 1987 and this one in 2008 all occurred during the Great Depression between 1929 and 1933.  The third highest occurred October 30, 1929 which is just six days after the crash of October 24, 1929 that is usually credited as the start of the Great Depression.

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US Senate from SC Debate

Posted on October 12, 2008 by Joseph

The hour long debate from Saturday between Bob Conley and Lindsey Graham is available online at the South Carolina ETV site.

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Bob Conley for Senate from South Carolina

Posted on October 11, 2008 by Joseph

Bob Conley is running against Lindsey Graham for his Senate seat. From his campaign materials and other sources that I have read, he is conservative in all the ways that Lindsey Graham is not. A couple of points of interest from his campaign website:

Economy: We must implement fiscal policies to end deficit spending. Bob Conley believes we must change our monetary policy, restore sound, honest money, and halt the fall of the dollar. We must stop predatory lending practices, end the Wall Street bailouts, and put a lid on massive expenditures abroad.

Another area that is directly related to our fiscal problems:

Military: Overseas deployments of occupation are breaking our military. Deployments in recent years have left 80% of our National Guard units without the necessary equipment for training – and the missions they should be prepared to serve here at home. Our National Guard needs to be rebuilt.

Gun Owners of America gives Conley a higer rating than Graham:

2nd Amendment Rights: Bob supports the right of the individual to own guns and is a life member of Gun Owners of America. The GOA favors Bob over Graham in supporting gun owner rights.

He also has a Pro Life position on Abortion that separates him from the majority of Democrats:

Abortion: Bob is Pro Life and will work in the U.S. Senate to stop government funding of groups that advocate and / or perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood, which received $300 million in taxpayer funding last year.

Bob Conley is definitely a better choice than Lindsey Graham in most areas it seems.  Lindsey Graham has proven in the recent bailout vote that he doesn’t understand economics and he doesn’t care what the people think.  Unfortunately the one negative for many who call themselves conservatives is that Conley is a Democrat.  This seems to be an extremely good example of getting beyond party politics and voting on principle.

If we can ever get beyond a loyalty to a party that doesn’t have any loyalty to the people (this includes both parties) then maybe the government will quit running our nation into the ground.

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Intervention is the Problem

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Joseph

Economics in One Lesson is an excellent book by Henry Hazlitt that attempts to help people to correctly think through any economic situation. The one lesson is reduced to a single sentence on page 5 of the Mises edition:

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

The lesson can be applied to the bailout and the current economic situation.  The government seems to believe that the problem is a lack of credit.  The answer they say is to expand available credit through the bailout passed Friday and to increase the money supply through the Fed.  Reuters reports:

The U.S. Federal Reserve said it would begin paying interest on reserves banks hold at the Fed, a move that would allow it to keep flooding markets with cash without driving its benchmark federal funds rate below target (U.S. urges global action on credit crisis).

This misses the bigger issues and ignores “the longer effects of any act or policy.”  The current crisis was caused by easy credit – not lack of credit.  Subprime mortgages were increased because that is what the government wanted. Continue reading →

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Final Bailout Vote Tally

Posted on October 3, 2008 by Joseph

A list of congressmen who changed their votes between the first and second time is posted at the Campaign for Liberty. A full list of the votes can be found at the house website.  Gresham Barret, who I spoke positively about before, change his vote and voted for the bill.  The two congressmen from New Hampshire and King from Iowa kept their no votes along with a total of 171 congressmen against.  Bob Inglis voted for the bill again because he fears that doing nothing is worse than doing something.  Too bad he’s wrong.

The stock market fell after the bailout was passed.  Not that it means much this soon, but it must not have immediately increased investor confidence.

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How to Guarantee a Depression

Posted on October 3, 2008 by Joseph
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Senate Votes to Bailout Wallstreet

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Joseph

The senate voted to pass their version of the $700 billion bailout of the rich by the poor.  I wasn’t suprised to find that Lindsey Graham voted for it.  It is great to see that Jim DeMint is one South Carolina senator with some economic sense.  You can see how your senator voted here.

Now would be a good time to contact your congressman again to make sure that they don’t pass the revised version on Friday.  Congress.org makes it easy to tell your congressman what you think.

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The Great Bank Robbery of 2008

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Joseph

Robert P. Murphy, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, has written new article on Mises.org explaining the bailout that failed yesterday and will probably be attempted again on Thursday in a slightly altered form. The conclusion of his article expresses the main problems with the bailout:

The Paulson Plan is a heist. It is a grand scheme in which the public will end up owing hundreds of billions of dollars to holders of new debt claims issued by the US Treasury. The plan won’t “prop up” asset values and it won’t provide any real stimulus to the economy.

Despite the dire warnings — coming from the same folks who brought you the Iraq invasion to remove WMD — there is no threat of a financial meltdown. If Goldman Sachs failed, the sun would still rise the next morning.

Far from providing stability and confidence, the Fed, Treasury, and SEC’s recent moves have ensured that US capital markets will now function with the same efficiency as public education in this country. The Paulson Plan is one more step in the socialization of America, but it is also a great bank robbery.

You can go to The Great Bank Robbery of 2008 to read the entire argument and to understand more fully why the government wants to do this and what they hope to accomplish.

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