Dark Skinny

In previous blogs - Bush and Plebscitary Democracy, and The Ravages of Ignored US Debt, I expressed a view that this type of democracy has allowed easy dictatorship within the very bastion of World Democracy - America. I have also intimated - sometimes even causing me to weep over my bucket of Chardonnay - that because of this gaping morass within the US Constitution, the “style” of The Bush Administration is no better really than the Communist cabals or indeed any budding Banana Republic dictatorship. Since the US Constitution is based on common freedoms, I suggest that the choice of electing a dictator is also a necessary freedom within American Politics. And since Bush Jnr seems to do nothing else but continually feed and stuff the voracious jaws of the American Way in terms of oil protection, Climate Change and all related wars, he is untouchable. I guess his people are happy and content. Indeed, I overheard one American say…”Well of course, the current economic problems have all been caused by Reaganomics..”. Well - I can tell you - that comment nearly caused me to lose grip on my bucket of Chardonnay…How I laughed !! But, since Presidents and their advisers have no real grounding in Fiscal Economics - they haven’t a clue really, then who do they rely upon to solve national economic problems concerning the dollar and market turmoil ? That’s right - that’s The Treasury and The Fed. Here is what the experts and gurus all say about the current economic State of the Union and The Fed:

Thomas Jefferson on Monetary Matters and Banks:

“The system of banking have…[for]ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our Constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction, which is already hit by the gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away in its progress the fortunes and morals of our citizens.” ~Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, 1816

“[The] Bank of the United States… is one of the most deadly hostility existing, against the principles and form of our Constitution… An institution like this, penetrating by its branches every part of the Union, acting by command and in phalanx, may, in a critical moment, upset the government. I deem no government safe which is under the vassalage of any self-constituted authorities, or any other authority than that of the nation, or its regular functionaries. What an obstruction could not this bank of the United States, with all its branch banks, be in time of war! It might dictate to us the peace we should accept, or withdraw its aids. Ought we then to give further growth to an institution so powerful, so hostile?” –Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1803. ME 10:437

From Congressman Ron Paul:

“Recently I had the opportunity to question Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he appeared before the congressional Joint Economic committee. The topic that morning was the state of the American economy, and many of my colleagues raised questions about how the Fed better “regulate” things to ease fears of an economic downturn. The tenor of my colleagues‘ questions suggested that Mr. Bernanke’s job is nothing less than to run the U.S. economy, like some kind of Soviet central planner. Certainly it’s true that Mr. Bernanke can drastically affect the economy at the drop of a hat, simply by making decisions about the money supply and interest rates. But why do members ofCongress assume this is good? Why do we accept without objection that a small group of people on the Federal Reserve Board wields so much power over our economic well-being?Is centralized, monopoly control over our money even compatible with a supposedly free-market economy?

Few Americans give much thought to the Federal Reserve System or monetary policy in general. But even as they strive to earn a living, and hopefully save or invest for the future, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank are working insidiously against them. Day by day, every dollar you have is being devalued.

The greatest threat facing America today is not terrorism, or foreign economic competition, or illegal immigration.The greatest threat facing America today is the disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation.It is this one-two punch– Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Fed printing money to make up the difference– that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars.

The Fed’s inflationary policies hurt older people the most.Older people generally rely on fixed incomes from pensions and Social Security, along with their savings. Inflation destroys the buying power of their fixed incomes, while low interest rates reduce any income from savings. So while Fed policies encourage younger people to overborrow because interest rates are so low, they also punish thrifty older people who saved for retirement.

The financial press sometimes criticizes Federal Reserve policy, but the validity of the fiat system itself is never challenged. Both political parties want the Fed to print more money, either to support social spending or military adventurism. Politicians want the printing presses to run faster and create more credit, so that the economy will be healed like magic- or so they believe.

Fiat dollars allow us to live beyond our means, but only for so long.History shows that when the destruction of monetary value becomes rampant, nearly everyone suffers and the economic and political structure becomes unstable. Spendthrift politicians may love a system that generates more and more money for their special interest projects, but the rest of us have good reason to be concerned about our monetary system and the future value of our dollars.”

Jim Rogers, commodities guru, on Ben Bernanke and The Fed :

“Listen, investment banks have been going bankrupt since the beginning of time. If people make mistakes — if you bail out every investment bank that gets in trouble, that’s not capitalism, that’s socialism for the rich.”

“No country in the world has ever succeeded by debasing its currency,…That’s what this man(Bernanke) is trying to do. He’s trying to debase the currency as a way to revive America. It has never worked in the long term or the medium term.”

“America is more communist than China is right now. You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions.”

Barak Obama - from his website:

“The cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and states of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on. . . . If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we’d see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies.”

John McCain : I dug and dug and found nothing. He has no fiscal rescue policy, he keeps saying that The Fed “…Should do its job”. Keeps passing the buck to the Fed…who just print more greenbacks to be passed around. Therefore I suspect that if he becomes President, the US Fiscal Economy is most likely to Hit the Wall and go broke. Pray otherwise folks.

Woodrow Wilson on the real rulers of Washington:

“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.”