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Texas Straight Talk – A weekly column
Rep. Ron Paul (R) – TX 14

Lately many have characterized this administration as socialist, or having strong socialist leanings. I differ with this characterization. This is not to say Mr. Obama believes in free-markets by any means. On the contrary, he has done and said much that demonstrates his fundamental misunderstanding and hostility towards the truly free market. But a closer, honest examination of his policies and actions in office reveals that, much like the previous administration, he is very much a corporatist. This in many ways can be more insidious and worse than being an outright socialist.

Socialism is a system where the government directly owns and manages businesses. Corporatism is a system where businesses are nominally in private hands, but are in fact controlled by the government. In a corporatist state, government officials often act in collusion with their favored business interests to design polices that give those interests a monopoly position, to the detriment of both competitors and consumers.

A careful examination of the policies pursued by the Obama administration and his allies in Congress shows that their agenda is corporatist. For example, the health care bill that recently passed does not establish a Canadian-style government-run single payer health care system. Instead, it relies on mandates forcing every American to purchase private health insurance or pay a fine. It also includes subsidies for low-income Americans and government-run health care “exchanges”. Contrary to the claims of the proponents of the health care bill, large insurance and pharmaceutical companies were enthusiastic supporters of many provisions of this legislation because they knew in the end their bottom lines would be enriched by Obamacare.

Similarly, Obama’s “cap-and-trade” legislation provides subsidies and specials privileges to large businesses that engage in “carbon trading.” This is why large corporations, such as General Electric support cap-and-trade.

To call the President a corporatist is not to soft-pedal criticism of his administration. It is merely a more accurate description of the President’s agenda.

When he is a called a socialist, the President and his defenders can easily deflect that charge by pointing out that the historical meaning of socialism is government ownership of industry; under the President’s policies, industry remains in nominally private hands. Using the more accurate term – corporatism – forces the President to defend his policies that increase government control of private industries and expand de facto subsidies to big businesses. This also promotes the understanding that though the current system may not be pure socialism, neither is it free-market since government controls the private sector through taxes, regulations, and subsidies, and has done so for decades.

Using precise terms can prevent future statists from successfully blaming the inevitable failure of their programs on the remnants of the free market that are still allowed to exist. We must not allow the disastrous results of corporatism to be ascribed incorrectly to free market capitalism or used as a justification for more government expansion. Most importantly, we must learn what freedom really is and educate others on how infringements on our economic liberties caused our economic woes in the first place. Government is the problem; it cannot be the solution.

phew!!!!!

this is getting serious…

Texas Straight Talk – A weekly column
Rep. Ron Paul (R) – TX 14

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, or the stimulus bill, passing into law. While the debate over its success has been focused on whether or not it is stimulating the economy and on various questionable uses of funds, in my estimation this legislation is accomplishing exactly what it was intended to accomplish – grow the government.

Those of us concerned about the ever increasing level of government debt gasped at the astonishing $787 billion cost estimates for this bill. True to form it has actually cost 10 percent more at $862 billion. We heard over and over that government could not sit around and do nothing while people lost their jobs and houses. The administration claimed that unemployment would not go above 8 percent if the stimulus bill passed. Now, a year later, the government estimates that unemployment is over 10 percent. The real number is closer to 20 percent. It appears that those promises were total fabrications in order to close the deal.

In any case, the American people know that more government spending obviously equals more government. If the goal was to strengthen the private sector, Congress would have allowed businesses and individuals to keep more of their own money through meaningful tax cuts. Outrageously, the administration claims that they did “cut taxes” by reducing withholding, and that they have stimulated the private economy by increasing the amount of money in every worker’s paycheck. What they fail to mention is they did not change the total amount of taxes due. This means that all that money not withheld from paychecks will add up to a big unpleasant surprise when returns are filed this year. Many tax preparers are already seeing shocked taxpayers having to come up with big checks to the government when they normally expect a refund. Stimulus, indeed!

The administration also claims that thousands of jobs have been created or saved by this massive spending bill, but these are just more government jobs, and counterproductive in the long run. Funding for the public sector necessarily comes at the expense of an overtaxed private economy. But, it makes sense that government would seek to expand its payroll since every new bureaucrat becomes a likely advocate for big government, when an increasing number of Americans are demanding the opposite. But the more the burden, the closer the government parasite comes to killing its host.

Rather than learning the lessons of the past year, the administration is moving full-speed ahead to do even more economic damage. With the stimulus bill set as a precedent and victory declared, another “jobs” bill is in the works. And, in order to address the unavoidable issues of our massive deficit, the administration has named a bi-partisan commission to find ways to decrease it. Tax increases on the middle class are notoriously back “on the table”, exposing that campaign promise as another instance of merely saying what the people wanted to hear. If the obvious solution to our spending problems was seriously put forth, that is, getting back to the constitutional limitations of government, I would be shocked. More likely, this will be a tactic to increase taxes and spending in a way that passes the political buck.

It’s the Patriot Act déjà vu. Extended last December until February 28, the day of Patriot Act provisions reauthorization reckoning is upon us.

Given the present direction in the political wind, members of Congress would rather not have to debate and vote on a long-term reauthorization of the Patriot Act before the November elections. So the plan is to shift that responsibility on to others after those pesky midterm elections and use the short-term reauthorization route all over again.

Unfortunately, the following dangerous provisions will be extended by this move: (1) the Records provision gives federal investigators access to all business, hospital and library records to search for “any tangible thing” of a terrorist suspect, sometimes labeled a “sneak and peek” method, if there is a court order provided by a special federal court; (2) the Roving Wiretaps provision authorizes government tracking capabilities in the form of wiretapping without a name or specific target as a focus; and (3) the Lone Wolf provision allows the use of secret surveillance for spying on non-Americans if they are suspected of terrorist activities not tied to any specific organization.

The national security letters provision is not set to expire, so the FBI can continue to obtain private financial and communication records of Americans, a most extraordinary search procedure and clearly an abuse of the Fourth Amendment.

No matter how the Patriot Act reauthorization is presented, whether as a standalone bill, or buried in any one of a number of bills, it is imperative that all senators and representatives are urged to oppose the reauthorization of any aspects of, or amendments to, the Patriot Act.

Wouldn’t it be great to know that your representatives in Washington voted “No” on the continued or expanded use of the provisions of the Patriot Act mentioned above, helping to preserve the freedom and liberty given to us by our Founding Fathers? And wouldn’t it be even better to know that because you sent a message to your representatives, they are getting the hang of a truly representational form of government while also using the Constitution as their guide?

Click here to send your message of opposition to reauthorization of these unconstitutional provisions of the Patriot Act.

Thanks for participating,

Your friends at The John Birch Society,

Schiff for Senate

Dear Supporter,

One year ago today President Obama signed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” popularly known as the Stimulus Act, into law. The President and Democrats in Congress promised that this economic stimulus program would create jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy. But a year later we still haven’t seen the results.

Obama insists that the stimulus is working, but we just haven’t seen proof of that in the economic data. But we have seen signs that the stimulus money is being spent… that is, large green highway signs proclaiming that funding for whatever construction project has you sitting in traffic was secured by the federal stimulus package.

The stimulus package was an egregious waste of our tax dollars, and now Democrats in Congress want to pass another jobs bill! I can only imagine how much of our tax dollars will be wasted in this bill, and that, my friend, is why I’m running for the U.S. Senate.

It’s time to get our country’s fiscal house in order, and I’m ready to lead the charge. Our government cannot borrow and spend our way to economic prosperity. The past year has been challenging for all of us. We’ve had to tighten our purse strings, and it’s time for Washington to do the same.

I’m turning to you as one of my strongest supporters, because I need your financial assistance to get my message of fiscal responsibility out to voters. Will you follow this link and make a contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more today? Your immediate contribution will bring me closer to Washington where I’ll fight for the conservative economic principles that have brought Americans prosperity for so many generations.

Government is the least efficient and most expensive means of job creation. In fact, we’re paying $160,000 for each job created. Can you believe it? Just imagine all the jobs that were destroyed or that never were created because $160,000 that otherwise would have been invested by the private sector was spent by the government instead. In addition, Americans continue to lose jobs everyday despite the Obama Administration’s failed efforts. We cannot afford to waste another several hundred billion dollars on a job killing “jobs bill” with our national debt nearly $12.4 trillion and Congress’ recent decision to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.9 trillion. It’s time to force Washington to play a limited role in governing, but we can only do that by electing leaders who will absolutely fight for fiscally conservative values.

As Senator, I will make sure that the government is spending your tax dollars wisely. I will not vote for a bill that funds frivolous projects like highway signs promoting the stimulus bill – New York alone has spent a million dollars on these signs – and I will not support another government bailout of a business, a bank, or an entire industry.

I need your immediate support to get to Washington to fight for our shared values. That’s why I hope I can count on you to follow this link today and make the most generous contribution you can to my campaign.

Thank you in advance for your support. Please stay tuned for updates from the campaign trail.

Sincerely,

Peter Schiff
Republican US Senate Candidate

P.S. Today is the anniversary of President Obama and his fellow Democrats’ failed economic stimulus plan. Instead of allowing the Democrats to pass a jobs bill that will cost hundreds of billions more of our tax dollars, we must act to elect leaders who will fight for economic responsibility and fiscal conservative principles. That’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate and I hope I can count on you to follow this link and make a generous contribution to support my campaign. Thank you.

How to Defeat the Patriot Act

February 9, 2010

Taking away our freedoms is not Patriotic. In fact, there is nothing more un-American.

The badly misnamed Patriot Act is not the Act of Patriots. It is the act of petty tyrants seeking more and more power and control over our country.

Now, ever so quietly, the Obama administration is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to sneak reauthorization of the Patriot Act through without creating a stir among liberty-minded Americans.

Well, I’m for making a stir. A BIG STIR.

How about you?

We’ve all heard the defenses. How the Patriot Act was needed to combat terrorism. How it would not be used against U.S. citizens.

How it would not be abused.

These lies have all been clearly exposed. For eight years, the American people have ignored the wisdom of our founding fathers and traded freedom for security – and as predicted, we are losing both as a result.

And now, Congress and the White House are set to reauthorize the so-called Patriot Act.

They have until the end of this month to act. Even talk about a window-dressing reform bill has stopped. The Mainstream Media, fixated on Obama and tea party rallies, doesn’t say a word about it.

Frankly, you and I know the Patriot Act should be scrapped, or at least massively re-written to block federal snoops from casting fishing nets over the lives, histories and data of hard-working Americans.

Unless you and I act today, however, this won’t happen. . .

. . . and the Patriot Act will be reauthorized for another five years or more without hardly a peep or a dissent.

The weak link for the snoop-state insiders remains the U.S. Senate — where one Big Government boondoggle after another has been bottled up or defeated.

But my contacts in the Senate say there’s not hardly a peep of opposition to the Patriot Act being heard right now. They say they are willing to fight — some even admit privately it was a mistake supporting it the first time when President Bush demanded it in the midst of the outrage following the 9/11 attacks.

But no one will take this on unless there is a shout of opposition from the American people.

That’s why I urge you to let Senator Bob Casey and Senator Arlen Specter hear from you today. Please click here to sign our Liberty Petition, demanding your senators allow the Patriot Act to expire.

If we do not stop this reauthorization, we’ll see a whole lot more of what we’ve gotten over the last eight years:

*** Federal and State law enforcement on fishing expeditions, searching telephone, email, medical, financial, and other records looking for a needle in a haystack – and abridging the freedom of law abiding citizens everywhere.

*** Warrantless searches and roving wiretaps, paying telephone providers for access to TRILLIONS of phone records and ignoring Fourth Amendment protections.

*** Broad powers for the Treasury Department and Immigrations Department to rewrite regulations, access records, and conduct proceedings in secret.

*** Holding American citizens in violation of their constitutional rights simply because someone in the government has declared them an enemy combatant.

*** Vast amounts of electronic data on virtually every American swept up by insider arrangements and purchases from phone companies, airlines and other businesses afraid to say no to a government request.
As you well know, this isn’t some conspiracy theory. This is happening all around us.

And you and I can help put a stop to it today.

One of the most egregious abuses of the Constitution, using the Patriot Act as its basis, is so-called National Security letters, used commonly by the FBI.

It has been estimated that the FBI has used these NSLs – which allow access to records WITHOUT any court or search warrant – at least 50,000 times since 2001.

Just one example, noted in BusinessWeek in 2005, showed that the FBI had issued tens of thousands of NSLs and had obtained one million financial, credit, employment, and health records from the customers of targeted Las Vegas businesses. Selected businesses included casinos, storage warehouses and car rental agencies.

And that’s just one case.

Our federal government is out of control, and every day we see it attempting to abridge more of our constitutional rights.

We know they’d take away our Second Amendment rights in a heartbeat if they could, and we must also remain vigilant to this threat.

They’re spending us and our children into poverty, with crushing trillion dollar deficits.

And they’re allowing the out of control Fed to ruin the dollar and push forward toward the collapse of our currency and way of life.

All of these are vital fights.

But none are more critical at the moment than taking back our freedoms from the statists and power-hungry federal thugs who use the Patriot Act to dig into every aspect of American lives under the false pretense of making us safer.

We cannot be a free nation and have this un-American law on the books.

Liberty-minded Americans from the left and the right are outraged. But outrage alone won’t be enough. Every single one of us must take action today.

Campaign for Liberty has a three point plan to get as many senators as possible to vote against the Patriot Act:

** Your Petitions, and hundreds of thousands like them, will be delivered to the Senate, showing the tidal wave of opposition to the Patriot Act. You can sign by clicking HERE.

** Editorials and Op-Eds across the country to help swing the tide of public opinion to oppose this dangerous abuse of power.

** TV and Radio Ads in targeted states. As you may recall, our program has helped keep Socialized medicine from becoming a reality.
Public pressure works. Think of the agenda items that are stalled in Congress in no small part due to pressure from outraged citizens. Socialized Medicine. Big Labor’s Card Check. Gun grabbing bills. You name it; we’re beating it back.

The time is now to turn our attention to stopping the Patriot Act in its tracks.

The issue already became hot enough that the Senate could only muster a 60 day extension of the bill because of the threat of a Senate filibuster back in December. But now the politicians think all is clear. There is silence on this issue.

Well, I think it’s time for them to hear us loud and clear.

Remember, the statists need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. We can and must win this fight.

Please join us and help Campaign for Liberty win this fight by signing your Petition and by making a contribution today.

In Liberty,

John Tate
President

P.S.: If you and I don’t take the lead, I’m certain the Patriot Act will be renewed, and we will continue to have our freedom and our private information taken away by our government.

You and I need to shine a bright spotlight on what Congress hopes will be a quiet fight.

Please help Campaign for Liberty wage this fight today by signing your Liberty Petition and by making a contribution to Campaign for Liberty if you can.

Campaign for Liberty

Texas Straight Talk – A Weekly Column
Rep. Ron Paul (R) – TX 14

Last week, the House approved another increase in the national debt ceiling. This means the government can borrow $1.9 trillion more to stay afloat and avoid default. It has been little more than a year since the last debt limit increase, and graphs showing the debt limit over time show a steep, almost vertical trend. It is not likely to be very long before this new ceiling is met and the government is back on the brink between default and borrowing us further into oblivion. Congressional leaders and the administration acknowledge that the debt limit will need to be increased again next year. They are crossing their fingers that the forecasts are correct and they will not need another increase sooner, even before the 2010 midterm elections.

Continually increasing the debt is one of the logical outcomes of Keynesianism, since more government spending is always their answer. It is claimed that government must not stop spending when the economy is so fragile. Government must act. Yet, when times are good, government also increases in size and scope, because we can afford it, it is claimed. There is never a good time to rein in government spending according to Keynesian economists and the proponents of big government.

Free market Austrian economists on the other hand know that times are bad because of the size and scope of government. The economy is fragile because of the overwhelming stranglehold of bureaucracy and taxation of Washington. Any jobs Washington might create through these endless spending programs are paid for through more taxation and debt put on the productive sectors of the economy. Just as insidious is the hidden tax of inflation caused by the Fed and its ever-expanding credit bubble. When the Fed steps in with its solutions, it only devalues the dollars in everyone’s pocket while encouraging more reckless waste on Wall Street. All of this leads to a worsening economy, not an improved one.

And so the downward spiral continues. The worse things get, the more politicians want to spend. The more they spend, the heavier the debt load becomes and the more we have to spend just to maintain our interest payments. As our debt load becomes unsustainable, the alarm of our creditors increases. It is becoming so serious that our credit rating, as a nation, could be downgraded. If this happens, interest on the national debt will increase even more, leading to even higher taxes on Americans and inevitably, price inflation.

Still, Washington is full of talk of more regulation, more taxation and more spending. The Senate is still struggling to pass a massive regulatory increase on the financial sector, even as the stock market suffers more shockwaves. Pay-as-you-go rules give the appearance of fiscal responsibility, but in truth these rules are only used as a justification to raise taxes. Spending programs like healthcare reform, increased military spending, and a recent doubling of destructive foreign aid are viewed by Washington as necessary and reasonable, instead of foolishness we absolutely cannot afford.

The people understand this, which is why there is so much anger directed at politicians. Washington needs to change its thinking and adopt some common sense priorities. The Constitution gives some excellent limitations that would get us back on the right path if we would simply abide by them. The framers of the Constitution understood that only the ingenuity of the American people, free from government interference, could get us through hard times, yet Washington seems bent only on prolonging the agony.

Patrick Henry Sellers is running for US Congress to represent Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District (southeast). Pat can win the GOP primary race and I’ll explain why. First, let me tell you that Pat is the right person for the job. He’s our kind of guy and I know what I’m talking about here. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. agrees and has endorsed him. Please read Pat’s PLATFORM.

Pat was an indefatigable Ron Paul supporter. He started one of the earliest Ron Paul meetups, #314 in June 2007 in Chester County, the heart of the Congressional District. His crew was very active. I worked closely with him as Ron’s former Pennsylvania Field Director during Ron’s Presidential campaign.

JOIN US to become one of Pat’s supporters. We need volunteers at both the local and national level. Give us your feedback. Please also kindly DONATE generously to Pat’s campaign. I did so and I decided to join his campaign team as well. His team is all volunteer.

The Opposition – RINO #1
Despite Americans’ overwhelming opposition, incumbent Congressman Jim Gerlach broke Republican ranks to vote for the Bailout. His record is a disaster: he also voted for Cash for Clunkers, the Hate Crime bill, its sexual orientation amendment, warrantless searches and other federal overreaching and destruction of liberty. He has angered many conservative rank and file. Gerlach tried to run for Governor but he raised insufficient funds, so he now wants to hold onto his Congressional seat. He just can’t stop bailing out. Apart from his record, Gerlach has three other problems: cash, a rich RINO #2 opponent — and Patrick Henry Sellers.

Law prohibits Gerlach from transferring his Gubernatorial campaign funds to his Congressional campaign. His Congressional account had only $35,000 in Sept. 2009. Right now, he’s busy collecting commitments and pledges from people who already donated to his expired campaign. NRCC funding may well be unlikely for two reasons: they are low on cash and Gerlach’s last general election was tight.

The Opposition – RINO #2
RINO Steve Welch has admitted voting for Joe Sestak (D-PA) in 2006 and for Obama in the 2008 primary. He also donated to Sestak’s campaign. He doesn’t realize it yet, but that probably makes him toast. Welch has low name recognition and will, in his substantially self-funded race, target Gerlach.

The upshot is that Gerlach and Welch are damaged-goods candidates with political bulls-eyes on their foreheads.

Pat Sellers is the only conservative in the race. Pat will campaign on the economy with the subtexts of salvaging national finances while improving business competitiveness and national security by dramatically reducing the scope and scale of government. That includes sound money, phasing out the income tax and the Fed, and reverting to a common sense non-interventionist foreign policy that entails bringing our troops home and ceasing the squandering of military assets. In a nutshell, peace, freedom and prosperity. You’ve heard that expression previously from a certain doctor.

Please mark the inauguration of Pat’s campaign fundraising with a Donation. We will soon be calling people in the freedom movement in the 6th District and throughout Pennsylvania for donations, and we need and respectfully request intellectual and financial support of the movement at the national level as well. We’re going to do this. Pat will add to Ron’s voice.

The Revolution continues. Spread the message. Patrick Henry Sellers is running.

Yours very truly,

William E. Faust
Sellers for US Congress