• What few Americans seem to realize is that the Democrat and Republican parties are not part of the government.  These are private organizations.  They are not authorized or mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, so there are no checks or balances to control them other than the interets of their members.

They own the government.  Washington isn't ours, its theirs.

Party bosses do whatever they think is best for these private organizations, regardless of the damage they might do to America and its citizens. 

If voters insist on seeing politics in the terms of democrats vs. republicans, or liberals vs. conservatives, our country will continue on the path to mediocrity.

Early Americans viewed politics as liberty vs. power.  They used their votes to protect and expand individual rights and freedoms.  They feared the oppression that comes from giving government ever increasing power. 

95% of mainstream political candidates are on the side of power.  One of the few exceptions is Ron Paul and that's why every American should read his book "The Revolution".  

This blog entry was adapted from the thinking of Richard Maybury www.chaostan.com

• Opec nations earned as much in the first half of this year as they did in the whole of 2007 -- thanks both to record oil prices and record production -- triggering a big increase in its spending.

Members of the Saudi ­Arabia-led oil exporters' cartel took home $645bn between January and June, just below the record $671bn they earned last year, according to the US department of energy.

• One-third of online US adults are more likely to shop online, rather than at a store, because of high gas prices.

Last Words

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
  - George Bernard Shaw

• Just how much Senate experience does Barack Obama have in terms of actual work days? Not much.

From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.

After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan.

Think you know who this man is?  Below are a few lines from Obama's books; In his words!
        
 
 - Dreams From of My Father:
'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

- Dreams From of My Father:
'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

- Dreams From of My Father: 
'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

- Dreams From My Father:
'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
 
 WHY THE MEDIA BLACKOUT ON THIS DISTURBING INFORMATION?

The Last Word

You can talk about "social justice" all you want. But what death taxes boil down to is letting politicians take money from widows and orphans to pay for goodies that they will hand out to others, in order to buy votes to get reelected That is not social justice or any other kind of justice. -- Thomas Sowell

• Morgan Stanley is the second-biggest U.S. securities firm and they are up to their eyeballs in bad loand.  In an effort to control futures losses the firm has told thousands of clients that they won't be allowed to withdraw money on their home-equity credit lines.

Why?  Because property values are dropping and equity is vanishing.  The New York-based bank will review home-equity lines of credit on monthly basis from now on.

"It's evidence that they don't think the economy is going to recover quickly,' said Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York who rates Morgan Stanley shares. ``The fact that they're trying to get ahead of the problem is very good.'

The Last Word

 Why is 'bra' singular and 'panties' plural?

• The mammoth government bailouts of failing home lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sparked widespread relief that the worst-case economic scenario has apparently been avoided.

Treasury Secretary Paulson, the primary engineer of the avalanche of government guarantees, has even been hailed as the "Hero of Capitalism." However when the history of the rise and fall of the United States of America is finally written, the "housing bailout bill" will be shown to be a seminal event.

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, we just laid down a mile of asphalt.

Capitalism can't work when individuals are not held accountable for their actions. When irresponsible behavior is rewarded and responsible behavior punished, the moral hazards will lead to financial ruin. If Americans know that they can borrow without consequences, and if those who resist such temptation get stuck with the bills, our market economy will fall apart.

Author Peter Schiff is the President, Founder and Chief Global Strategist for Euro Pacific Capital. http://www.europac.net/

• The U.S. housing crisis is "nowhere near a bottom," opined Alan Greenspan yesterday. In an interview with CNBC, Greenspan provided a litany of lackluster predictions: Chances of recession are still "50/50." It will "take a while" for markets to stabilize. The U.S. will soon face "a very substantial change in the balance between growth and inflation."

• The U.S. economy lost another 51,000 jobs in July, the seventh consecutive month of net job losses.

The Last Word

  "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."  -- Thomas Jefferson

• Did you know that your pals in the U.S. Congress snuck a huge hike of the federal debt ceiling into the just approved housing rescue bill?

When the bill is signed into law, the federal debt "limit" will be jacked up by $800 billion, to $10.6 trillion.

Now get this...  A few days ago the Congressional Budget Office estimated the Fannie/Freddie rescue would cost $100 billion, at the outside. Coupled with the rest of the housing rescue, Congress has given themselves a $400 billion cushion.  

Your Democrat congress will be throwing money around like it belongs them! 

    FREE GUIDE TO MILLIONS IN PRIVATE MONEY LOANS FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTING HERE.

• With mortgages now hard to obtain and speculation no longer attractive, arithmetic has replaced momentum as the guiding force for housing prices.

The fundamental equation points down: Even as construction grinds down, there are still many more houses on the market than there are people to buy them, and more on the way as more homeowners slip into foreclosure.

• Since 2001 Gold has gained 250%.

The Last Word

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.    -Winston Churchill