Monday, Oct. 27, 2008
Interesting Items 10/27 -
Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy -
In this issue:
1. Hedge Funds
2. Laffer
3. 401K
4. Begich
5. Donations
6. Dean Barnett
1. Hedge Funds. One of the significant events of this election cycle has been
the popping of the housing bubble and the Wall Street crash. While the popping
of the bubble is not a surprise, the breadth and depth of the decline in the
markets has been a surprise. Limbaugh has hinted around this for a few weeks,
so it is time to consider it: What if the Wall Street crash is an artificial
event, driven by the hedge fund guys in an attempt to manipulate the markets so
that more democrats are elected? Remember that the owner of the democrat
party, George Soros made his first billion by crashing the British Pound via
short sales on speculation. The hedge funds likewise make their money via
betting on – or triggering, if possible - market declines. And there are an
inordinate number of children of democrat politicians – Biden’s son and Chelsea
Clinton, to name a couple – that have worked for hedge funds. I had thought it
was odd that
the markets crashed just after McCain got his first lead in the national
polling, but didn’t do a lot other than watch a little more closely. However,
toward the end of last week, when McCain once again pulls even in national
polling, the markets Friday once again went nuts. Once is odd. Twice may be
coincidence. The third time is enemy action. And that enemy action may take
place Friday so that voters will have to pick between a committed socialist in
Barack Obama or a cratering stock market and vaporizing 401K accounts. A
decade or so ago, House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt noted that for every
hundred points loss on Wall Street, one additional democrat would be elected in
the House of Representatives. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that
some or several of the hedge funds have manipulating the markets for political
gain, destroying trillions of dollars in wealth at a few mouse clicks. Granted
that one of the first things
the Fed did as they stepped up to repair the damage they have done to the
markets was to suspend short selling. However, short selling is still possible
in the overseas markets, and our stock market responded to the overseas markets
last Friday. It will be interesting to see if the markets can be forced down
much farther, as there may not be a lot of room left to fall. If I am correct
in my suspicions, and the stock market crash over the last month has been
encouraged and / or exacerbated by democrat-friendly hedge fund traders, the
thing that ought to worry you a bit would be the following: if they are
willing to do this to win in 2008, what then would they be willing to do in
2010, 2012 and 2014? Note that whatever comes in the future will have to be
bigger, nastier and scarier than what we have seen the last month. Also note
that Soros has been very, very quiet over the course of the last month or so.
2. Laffer. Listened to economist Arthur Laffer on Dennis Prager early last
week. They discussed the credit crunch and the housing bailout. Laffer put
the blame for the credit crunch entirely on the Federal Reserve, which had been
concentrating so much on controlling inflation, which was nonexistent, that it
was in danger of triggering deflation. He also called the bailout a mistake
that will haunt this nation for decades. In a related article in MoneyNews
this morning, Laffer believes that what congress, the Fed and the
administration has done regarding this financial crisis will be viewed with as
much positive approval and affirmation as what the Fed, the administration and
congress did in response to the Crash of 1929. If he is accurate, we are in
for a hard ride indeed for over a decade. Laffer is also out with a new book
entitled The End of Prosperity describing recent monetary and regulatory
mistakes including Sarbanes-Oxley.
3. 401K. Rep. Jim McDermott (D, WA) and George Miller (D, CA) held a
committee meeting a few months ago intended to lay the groundwork for
eliminating tax deductibility of personal savings accounts like the 401K. The
designated academic that testified proposed a plan that would allow individuals
to convert their 401Ks into federally held and guaranteed retirement plans held
and managed by the Social Security Administration, with a guaranteed return of
a whopping 3%. Congressional democrats are starting to discuss eliminating all
tax deductibility for privately held retirement plans and force as many people
as possible back onto the public teat, where they can be held hostage and
scared to death each and every election from now until doomsday. Argentina has
taken this game one step further, recently nationalizing ALL private retirement
accounts, stealing over $30 billion from citizens who worked hard, paid their
taxes, and planned for their
future. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that a new administration
led by someone who wants to spread the wealth around to those who are behind,
won’t be prepared to move in a similar direction. Privately held savings
accounts represent liberty for their owners and the democrats can’t stomach
that sort of freedom from need, from want, and especially from government.
Expect this congress to do everything humanly possible to remove that freedom
and manufacture as many newly dependent people as possible, for dependent
people elect democrats.
4. Begich. The local fishwrapper has been carrying daily question and answers
from the candidates for US Senate. Friday’s question was about manmade global
warming. Democrat mark Begich, who has a long and supportive relationship with
the environmental community gave the following response:
“The science is clear that greenhouse gas emissions play a significant role in
global warming. Alaska scientists and Native elders point to greenhouse gas
emissions as the cause of the rapid changes taking place in Alaska , from
shrinking Arctic sea ice to insect-infested Southcentral forests. We must act
now to reduce emissions and prevent more dramatic impacts on our state. It also
will make our economy stronger and help Alaska families cut energy costs.”
What is also clear is that Mr. Begich is absolutely clueless about what
greenhouse gases are; what causes changes in global temperature; the impact on
solar activity; the impact of the north Pacific Decadal Oscillation; and the
actual plot of global temperatures over the last couple decades. Hint: It’s
getting colder, Mark. A lot colder.
5. Donations. Yet another fundraising scam out of The One. This one is
pretty cute, as it allows anyone to go to his web site and give a campaign
donation via credit card. So what’s the big deal about taking credit card
payments as campaign donations? Well, the Obama campaign has turned off all
the security that matches a credit card number with a name, address and other
personal identification. This means that anyone can enter any name – or
several names – and make multiple illegal donations. No traceability. No
donation limits. Nothing but lots and lots of free money. Several bloggers
experimented with small donations via this method. All were processed by the
campaign. Obama’s fundraising prowess – particularly among small money donors
- via the internet has been legendary during this election cycle. Perhaps we
have discovered the technique.
6. Dean Barnett. Finally, blogger Dean Barnett passed away over the weekend
from complications of cystic fibrosis. He was 41. He was a passionate Mitt
Romney supporter and we had a few e-mail discussions about Romney during the
primary season. He was good people and will be sorely missed. Please keep him
and his family in your prayers.
More later -
- AG
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better
than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not
your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your
chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our
countrymen."
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia
State House, August 1, 1776.
Note: Interesting Items can be found at the following locations:
MatSu Valley News http://www.matsuvalleynews.com ;
District 28 http://www.dist28.com/ ,
subscriber and supporter Elbert Collins at http://thatselbert.wordpress.com/
and the home page: http://home.gci.net/~agimarc
Rod M art in's The Vanguard site is also a long-time supporter of this
column: http://www.thevanguard.org/
I'M MAD, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE.
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If we don't fire Washington, who will?
Rich Martin
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