Chris’s Blog

I don’t read much non-fiction.  Lately, though, I’ve been on a bit of a political kick and I’ve always enjoyed history, so why not combine the two?  I just finished reading Hamilton’s Curse by Thomas DiLorenzo.  Wow!  Warning: If the only American “history” you’ve studied has been provided to you by our government’s schools, then this book might turn some of what you took for granted on its head.

I’m not going to say the book was easy to get through.  The material was amazingly detailed, fantastic, and engrossing, but some of it was so very challenging to read.  I have to admit I dozed off a few times while reading it.  Don’t let that detract from the book, though–that was more a failing of me and the fact that Rebekah still doesn’t sleep very well.

I can’t even do justice to what Mr. DiLorenzo presents in the book.  From the fabrication of “implied powers” to the General Welfare Clause to how Lincoln was one of the worst Presidents our nation has seen, the author presents Hamilton’s America from the early days where he battled daily against Jefferson (his arch political rival) to long after his death as his ideas were implemented by the power elite in Washington.  It is a fascinating journey of how we came from an affiliation of self-governing states to the bloated, bureaucratic, overbearing central government we have today.

If you have any interest in liberty in America, American history, and politics, you owe it to yourself to read this book with an open mind.  You might just come out of it with a different opinion of Alexander Hamilton than our country’s public (and private) schools have conditioned you to believe.

Don’t believe me?  Check out this article.  ”Wait!” you say. “That sounds like good news.”

Here’s the part that proves my point:

The dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

That means your dollar now buys less than it did yesterday.  How is that different from the government just taking a portion of your dollar and calling it a tax?

So, is it nice that the DJIA rose almost 400 points?  On the surface.  The problem is as the government continues to stabilize banks and claim it’s not costing the American people anything, our dollar continues to fall.  That 3-5% raise you hope for at the end of the year–it probably won’t even cover inflation.  The government continues to lie to the American people and continues to inflate our dollar to pay for things they should not be doing.

I need to go–I hear black helicopters.

Stop whatever you’re doing and take 15 minutes to go listen to this.  It may very well be the most important 15 minutes you will spend all week.

I am quickly becoming a huge Peter Schiff fan.  I really need to read Crash Proof.

Me.  That’s right. Thanks in part to media hype, early voting turnout was ridiculously high.  People stood in lines for 3 and 4 hours just to early vote.  Not me.  I said all along that with 100x the number of voting machines and dozens more locations to vote, November 4 would not be very crowded.

This morning, my wife and I got the kids all set and headed off about 9:05 to vote–figuring that the initial crowds would have died down by then.  It was even better than I thought.  We walked right in, walked right up to each station, and walked right up to machines.  Seriously, we were out in 10 minutes.

So, a big “thank you” to all the people who stood in line for hours to early vote so that I could walk right in and out on November 4!

Also, it felt really good to finally vote for people I could believe in rather than the “lesser of two evils.”

Well, somewhat.  Honestly, this is the least I’ve been excited about a Presidential election, well, ever.

At this point, I’m still trying to decide whether I’ll vote for Bob Barr (who has the most likelyhood of winning out of any third party candidate) or Chuck Baldwin (who I agree with slightly more than Bob Barr).  Wait, you say?  I’m not voting for The Lesser of Two Evils (whichever candidate you believe that to be)?

No.  I’m done with that.  When you really take a good look at the top two, there is little difference on the issues that matter.  Oh, sure, there are the side-issues that most people are convinced to make their decision based on–but on the things I feel are the most important?  They’re almost twins.

They both believe that spending billions (or even trillions) of dollars that we don’t have to bail out huge corporations that made poor decisions (and continue to) is a good idea.  I don’t.  Both candidates received over $20 million dollars to their campaigns from the very banks they voted to give money to.  Both support continuing our country’s failed foreign policies.  Obama wants to bring the troops home slightly sooner, but will likely throw Israel under the bus and expand the UN’s illegal dominion over our country’s policies.  McCain wants to “finish the job” in Iraq, but is considering other wars like Iran, Pakistan, and maybe even getting involved in the Georgia-Russia conflict.  Both will drive this country further into debt (did I mention that we already owe $10 TRILLION) with their out-of-control spending.  Both will trample our liberties (McCain with more wiretapping and “Patriot” Act-esque stuff, Obama with more gun control and more social programs like healthcare which we can’t afford).  So, why would I vote for either?

That leaves me with Bob Barr who is on the ballot in many states and who I agree with as far as platform goes on about a 80-90% level.  His problem is his somewhat sordid past.  Or, Chuck Baldwin who has little to no chance of being elected (he’s a write-in in Georgia) who I agree with on a 85-90% level.

The real race I’m interested in is the Saxby Chambliss(R)/Jim Martin(D)/Allen Buckley(L) three-way.  Saxby voted for the bailout (again, he’s beholden to the special interests that called for it), Martin wouldn’t have, but only because it wasn’t big enough!  Allen Buckley (the Libertarian candidate) is the only fiscal conservative of the bunch.  I’m happily voting for him in the hopes that it forces a run-off.  If that happens, most likely, Saxby will win (Buckley won’t even be in the run-off), but I have hopes that it will make our Senator a little more aware of the people he represents (since he claimed a few weeks ago that his job was safe because people won’t vote him out on the single issue of the bailout vote).

Then, there’s Phil Gingrey (R) who I will also happily be voting for.  Despite enormous political pressure, he stuck to his guns and faithfully represented the people of Georgia by voting against the bailout bill.  He has also stood his ground on a few other issues that I can be proud of him for.  Gingrey: He Delivers!  (He’s a former OB/GYN)

So, while I will vote, I will do so for the first time with the surety that my chosen candidate will lose.  Sadly, no matter which of the top two candidates win, America loses.

I haven’t gotten sucked in by the “early voting” fad.  I suppose it’s a nice thing for some people, but when they have 20 machines to service the number of people that are usually broken up across 5 or more voting locations with 100+ machines on Election Day, I’m not willing to stand in the 3 hour lines.  If everything works out as I hope, I will work from home on Tuesday and run out at lunchtime or early afternoon to go vote.  Typically, even in busy elections, the lines are not that long during the middle of the day.

Anyone want to bet I’m in and out in under 30 minutes?

This was too good to pass up.  A handy flowchart to help you determine if you’re a socialist, a Republican, or a fringe-kook.  So, are you a socialist?

A little-mentioned portion of the Bailout Bill that has dire consequences is the increasing of Federal Deposit Insurance to $250,000.  Thomas DiLorenzo over at The Lew Rockwell Blog says it better than I can.

He ties it back to the S&L crisis of the 1980’s and previous increases of the FDIC limit:

Bankers looked at this and thought, well now, I can make big, big bucks by taking on far more risk with my loans (which pay higher interest), and if the loans go into default, why, I’m covered for more than twice the amount of government insurance.

They did indeed take on much more risk; thousands of their big real estate development loans defaulted; and it ended up costing taxpayers half a trillion dollars.

Brilliant move there, guys.  Really brilliant.

The so-called bailout bill (personally, I think, “monetary socialism bill” has a better ring to it) has passed the House (see the link to see how your Congressman voted).  All that remains is for President Bush to sign it which I’m sure he’s rushing to do since it was all his idea and the only thing he thinks can save what’s left of his legacy.

I vowed a few days ago when the Senate passed this 451-page behemoth that is another step toward socialism and that I would not vote for anyone that helped pass it (including McCain and Obama).  We need to send Congress a lesson that when they do not represent us, they get removed from the position of “representative.”

God bless, Phil Gingrey (R-GA 11th Dist) who is my Congressman.  Generally, I agree with the guy and I think he’s mostly done a good job.  Today, he faithfully represented the people of Georgia by voting against H.R. 1424.  Thank you, Congressman Gingrey!

For now, it looks like I’ll be voting for Congressman Gingrey, Mr. Allen Buckley (who is running against Saxby and Martin for the Senate seat), and possibly Bob Barr (jury is still out on that one).

This current situation in our economy has an overwhelming majority of our federal government screaming like Chicken Little that the “sky is falling,” an overwhelming majority of the American people screaming that the government needs to stay out of the market and not spend more money we don’t have, and an overwhelming majority of our elected representatives refusing to listen to us.

It seems appropriate that tonight was the “Debt” lesson of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class.  This entire problem was built on credit/debt.

• Credit that lenders were forced to extend to people that would never be able to pay it off. Forced by the government’s Community Reinvestment Act and President Bush’s goal of raising minority home ownership by an unrealistic amount.  Now, I’m not against minority home ownership–I am against anyone buying a home they can’t afford to pay for and financing it at 100%(or even 125%).
• Credit that banks have used to buy other, smaller banks (Wachovia, I’m looking at you).
• Credit that was passed around as investments in the sub-prime lending boom.
• Credit that people didn’t read the terms on or did and took it on anyway knowing they couldn’t repay it if the interest rate notched up.
• Credit, credit, credit.

Are you seeing a pattern?  Do we really think that giving the people that screwed it up in the first place more credit will help get us out of this trouble?  Because that’s what this bailout is (I refuse to call it a “rescue”).  It’s not real money.  It’s credit that we’re borrowing and printing (as in, more paper money that devalues the paper you have in your pocket).

Well, apparently, our government ignored the voice of the people and the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of their own version of the unconstitutional bailout bill.  Apparently, it needed more pork to pass.  This vote (from what I hear, though I’ve not seen the official tally yet) apparently included our two Georgia Senators, Chambliss and Isakson.  Well, all I can say is:

1. The term “Bank Robber” has a new meaning.
2. I urge you to do as I will do the next time I have opportunity and vote against any incumbent that voted to spend your tax dollars to prop up failed multi-billion dollar companies on Wall Street.  Fire them!  That’s the only way we’ll take our government back.
3. Vote for someone other than McCain or Obama in the upcoming Presidential Election.  Both of them overwhelmingly supported bailing out Wall Street at our expense and both of them attempted to help buy the American people’s complicity in this (which this time, from all the polls I’m seeing failed miserably).

I unsubscribed from the McCain campaign propaganda emails today and left explicit reasons in the “comments” box on the unsubscribe form.  I will be making an informed decision on who to vote for in the next few weeks.  Have any good ideas for what to do with a couple McCain/Palin bumper stickers and a never-used yard sign?