By Peter Morici -

The Commerce Department reported today the economy grew only 1.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 2.0 percent the previous period.
Consumer spending slowed under the weight of growing pessimism about the effectiveness of President Obama’s economic program, and a growing sense that Governor Romney will not unseat him. The President leads in polls in most swing states, and the President has made clear his intention to double down on interventionist economic policies.

By Scott Rasmussen

Consumer confidence fell to the lowest levels of 2012 this past week. Most Americans believe that both the economy and their own personal finances are getting worse. Just 25 percent believe the economy is getting better, and only 22 percent say the same about their personal finances.

Charles Krauthammer

By Charles Krauthammer

A generation ago, it was the three I’s. A presidential challenger’s obligatory foreign trip meant Ireland, Italy and Israel. Mitt Romney’s itinerary is slightly different: Britain, Poland and Israel.
Not quite the naked ethnic appeal of yore. Each destination suggests a somewhat more subtle affinity: Britain, playing to our cultural connectedness with the Downton Abbey folks who’ve been at our side in practically every fight for the last hundred years; Poland, representing the “new Europe,” the Central Europeans so unashamedly pro-American; Israel, appealing to most American Jews but also to an infinitely greater number of passionately sympathetic evangelical Christians.

Nick Gillespie

If this economy's tanking, don't come a-taxin'

If there's one area of human activity that is more fully soaked in politics than politics, it's economics.
Over at National Review, Mercatus Center economist and Reason columnist Veronique de Rugy points to the latest instance of the triumph of ideology over intellectual consistency. President Obama, along with most congressional Democrats and liberal pundits (including Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman) are calling for increasing taxes on Americans making over $200,000 a year. They do this in the name of Baron Keynes.
Yet

George F. Will

By George F. Will

SAN FRANCISCO
The huge humpback whale whose friendliness precipitated a surreal seven-year — so far — federal hunt for criminality surely did not feel put upon. Nevertheless, our unhinged government, with an obsession like that of Melville’s Ahab, has crippled Nancy Black’s scientific career, cost her more than $100,000 in legal fees — so far — and might sentence her to 20 years in prison. This Kafkaesque burlesque of law enforcement began when someone whistled.

by Michael Patrick Leahy

The job of President of the United States is one that every occupant until Barack Obama has taken seriously. Every President prior to Barack Obama understood that the job entailed things like holding press conferences, meeting with members of Congress to compromise on budget issues, and learning the latest news about economic and international developments from the nation's best experts.

Sen. Schumer Seeks Ban on High Cap Mags and Assault Weapons Next Week

by AWR Hawkins

The Cybersecurity Act, which the Senate will vote on next week, will not only contain measures for cyber security but also quite a bit of gun control, if a coalition of Democrats led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) get their way.

by Wynton Hall

When President Barack Obama blocked the Keystone Pipeline, Republicans said the move would encourage Canada to pursue oil deals with China instead of the United States and cede a massive chunk of North American oil assets to the communist nation.

by Breitbart News

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press
LONDON
About 500 people critical of the economic impact and corporate flavor of the London Olympics marched Saturday near the Olympic Park, determined to send a message that Britain is not united in backing the games.

– by Staff Report

Gordon Brown

Britain Unleashed: Why Britain needs Adam Smith more than ever ... Free markets didn't cause our current economic crisis, but a perversion of their core principles did. It wasn't for lack of regulation that banking came apart. Under Gordon Brown, a veritable army of box-ticking, officious regulators was created, ineffectually looking in the wrong direction while the peril grew, unobserved, beneath their feet. – UK Telegraph
Dominant Social Theme: We need to create free markets that work.
Free-Market Analysis: This article from the Telegraph proposes a way to fix capitalism based on the idea that free-market thinking has traveled too far, too fast. The article,, written by Telegraph maven Jeremy Warner focuses on the appropriate amount of regulation that is necessary for a healthy economy.
The crux paragraph actually comes toward the end of the article when Warner explains how a modern economy works and what is necessary. Here's an excerpt:

– by Ron Paul

Ron Paul

Before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, Hearing on the Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, July 25, 2012
Mr. Chairman, I welcome this hearing to receive the report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). The creation of FSOC underscores perfectly the complete intellectual bankruptcy underpinning the government's behavior towards financial markets. In the opinion of government leaders, the financial crisis was not caused by misguided regulation, interest rate manipulation, or government-caused distortions to the structure of production, but by a financial sector that was completely deregulated and laissez-faire. The response of legislators, therefore, was to create a new super-regulator with vast new powers to control the financial system.

– by Ron Holland

Ron Holland

I really enjoyed seeing many of you again this year at FreedomFest, although 2,000-plus attendees with just four days does not allow for many long discussions with individuals. Many of you came by the Biologix Hair Inc. booth and I missed some of you, as I was often away moderating or participating in different sessions.
FreedomFest
I especially enjoyed moderating the Churchill debate with John Browne, our Biologix Chairman of the Board, debating Anthony Gregory on the important question as to whether Winston Churchill was a 20th Century statesman or warmonger. The debate was spirited and both men gave their best. In the end there appeared to be a slight plurality for "statesman."

ECB Will Now Print Money Directly ... But Why?

Mario Draghi

European equities rose and peripheral bond yields fell on Friday on growing expectations of ECB action to bring down Spanish and Italian borrowing costs, but concerns about possible German opposition to such a move kept risk appetite in check. Euro zone governments and the European Central Bank are preparing to intervene on financial markets, French daily Le Monde reported, citing unnamed sources. The report came a day after ECB President Mario Draghi boosted risk assets across the globe with his pledge do whatever it takes within the bank's mandate to defend the single currency. "Now all of a sudden everybody thinks he (Draghi) is going to start printing. He has backed himself into a corner, if he doesn't come up with anything then he could be in trouble," said Ioan Smith, strategist at Knight Capital. − Reuters

– by Anthony Wile

Anthony Wile

On Wednesday, Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve was overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote was 327 to 98. You would think that a bill with such overwhelming support would easily become law. But it won't, because Barack Obama and the Democrats plan to kill it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already said that the Senate will not even consider the bill. But of course if Barack Obama called Harry Reid and told him that he wants this bill to get through the Senate so that he could sign it then Harry Reid would be singing a much different tune. Sadly, we all know that is not going to happen. Barack Obama's good buddy Ben Bernanke called the Audit the Fed bill a "nightmare scenario" last week, and Obama is certainly not going to do anything to upset Bernanke - especially this close to the election. – Daily Caller

Rep. Kelly's Rousing Floor Speech Receives Standing Ovation and Chants o...

Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Merchants of Despair

It Worked

Friday, July 27, 2012

Peter Schiff: Predicts Economic Crash by 2015!!

Marc Faber China a Bubble about to burst

Syrian rebels gain ground in Aleppo

Amb. Gillerman: Iran's fingerprints are all over this

Pat Buchanan: Government Does Not Create Wealth

Methodology of Staged Terrorism with Writer Stephanie Sledge

17 Reasons Why Those Hoping For A Recession In 2012 Just Got Their Wish

If you were hoping for a recession in 2012, then you are going to be very happy with the numbers you are about to see. The U.S. economy is heading downhill just in time for the 2012 election. Retail sales have fallen for three months in a row for the first time since 2008, manufacturing activity is dropping like a rock, sales of new homes are declining again, consumer confidence has moved significantly lower and a depressingly small percentage of businesses anticipate hiring more workers in the coming months. Even though the Federal Reserve has been wildly pumping money into the financial system and even though the federal government has been injecting gigantic piles of borrowed cash into the economy, we still haven't seen an economic recovery. In fact, we appear to be on the verge of yet another major downturn. In California the other night, Barack Obama told supporters that "we tried our plan — and it worked", but only those that are still drinking the Obama kool-aid would believe something so preposterous. The truth is that the U.S. economy has been steadily declining for many years and now we have reached another very painful recession.

Every single day more Americans fall into poverty. This should deeply alarm you no matter what political party you belong to and no matter what your personal economic philosophy is. Right now, approximately 100 million Americans are either "poor" or "near poor". For a lot of people "poverty" can be a nebulous concept, so let's define it. The poverty level as defined by the federal government in 2010 was $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four. Could you take care of a family of four on less than $2000 a month? Millions upon millions of families are experiencing a tremendous amount of pain in this economy, and no matter what "solutions" we think are correct, the reality is that we all should have compassion on them. Sadly, things are about to get even worse. The next major economic downturn is rapidly approaching, and when it hits the statistics posted below are going to look even more horrendous.

Where have we seen this before? Bond yields soar above the 7 percent danger level. Check. The stock market crashes to new lows. Check. Industrial activity plummets like a rock and the economy contracts. Check. The unemployment rate skyrockets to more than 20 percent. Check. The bursting of a massive real estate bubble pushes the banking system to the brink of implosion. Check. Broke local governments beg the broke national government for bailouts. Check. The international community pressures the national government to implement deep austerity measures which will slow down the economy even more and hordes of violent protesters take to the streets. Check. All of this happened in Greece, it is happening right now in Spain, and mark my words it will eventually happen in the United States. Every debt bubble eventually bursts, and right now Spain is experiencing a level of economic pain that very, very few people saw coming. The recession in Spain is rapidly becoming a full-blown economic depression, and at this point there is no hope and no light at the end of the tunnel.

Are you ready for the next major global food crisis? The price of corn hit an all-time record high on Thursday. So did the price of soybeans. The price of corn is up about 50 percent since the middle of last month, and the price of wheat has risen by about 50 percent over the past five weeks. On Thursday, corn for September delivery reached $8.166 per bushel, and many analysts believe that it could hit $10 a bushel before this crisis is over. The worst drought in the United States in more than 50 years is projected to continue well into August, and more than 1,300 counties in the United States have been declared to be official natural disaster areas. So how is this crisis going to affect the average person on the street? Well, most Americans and most Europeans are going to notice their grocery bills go up significantly over the coming months. That will not be pleasant. But in other areas of the world this crisis could mean the difference between life and death for some people. You see, half of all global corn exports come from the United States. So what happens if the U.S. does not have any corn to export? About a billion people around the world live on the edge of starvation, and today the Financial Times ran a front page story with the following headline: "World braced for new food crisis". Millions upon millions of families in poor countries are barely able to feed themselves right now. So what happens if the price of the food that they buy goes up dramatically?

You may not think that you eat much corn, but the truth is that it is in most of the things that we buy at the grocery store. In fact, corn is found in about 74 percent of the products we buy in the supermarket and it is used in more than 3,500 ways.

by Mike Reid

In California, a law that promised to control politicians is now being used to control the public.
California's Proposition 25 promised to rein in runaway spending and "end budget gridlock" by hitting politicians' pocketbooks. Every day on which lawmakers failed to pass a balanced budget after their June 15 deadline each year would be a day of pay they lost.
This was an attempt to increase government "efficiency" — to make government conform to the laws of business: you must give people the things they want on time or you do not get paid. But, as Mises wrote, "government efficiency and industrial efficiency are entirely different things."

by Murray N. Rothbard

[Day 30 of Robert Wenzel's 30-day reading list that will lead you to become a knowledgeable libertarian, this article was originally published in the Libertarian Forum, Vol. 10, No. 7, July 1977.]

I have been ruminating recently on what are the crucial questions that divide libertarians. Some that have received a lot of attention in the last few years are: anarcho-capitalism vs. limited government, abolitionism vs. gradualism, natural rights vs. utilitarianism, and war vs. peace. But I have concluded that as important as these questions are, they don't really cut to the nub of the issue, of the crucial dividing line between us.

By CAROLINE B. GLICK

Why is the Obama administration shunning potential allies and empowering enemies? Why has the administration gotten it wrong everywhere?

Photo: Reuters On Wednesday, John Brennan, US President Barack Obama’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, made a quick trip to Israel to discuss Hezbollah’s massacre of Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria last week.

Hopefully it was an instructive meeting for the senior US official, although his Israeli interlocutors were undoubtedly dumbstruck by how difficult it was to communicate with him. Unlike previous US counterterror officials, Brennan does not share Israel’s understanding of Middle Eastern terrorism.

Testimony Before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs

Veronique de Rugy |

DOWNLOAD PUBLICATION PDF

In 2009, renewable energy company Solyndra received $535 million through the federally backed 1705 loan guarantee program of the Department of Energy (DOE). Two years later, the firm filed for bankruptcy and had to lay off its 1,100 employees, leaving taxpayers to bear the cost of the loan. For obvious reasons, more than any other recent events, this waste of taxpayer money has attracted much attention.

David R. Henderson

“When you leave the honey jar open, expect ants.”
—anonymous

When I speak of the benefits of economic freedom and free markets, many people in my audiences do not think of those terms the way I think of them. In the question-and-answer sessions that follow my talks, it seems people often think they are taking issue with free markets when they are actually rejecting cronyism—a term that encompasses government favoritism, special privileges, and special interests.

For example, people will object to the Wall Street bailouts carried out by the Bush and Obama administrations. As do I, because those bailouts violate free-market principles. They will object to government regulation that makes it difficult for small food producers to produce and sell food not inspected and approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As do I.

On course to collide with fiscal cliff Promises to slash spending are broken already

JAMES VALVO
With nearly every major fiscal policy scheduled for a recalibration by the end of the year, the sirens are luring Congress and the economy toward a fiscal cliff with the promise of a grand bargain. The song is a predictable one, enticing budget hawks to relax their fears about deficits and debt by trading some spending cuts for a portion of tax increases. Often the sirens coo for a 3-1 deal like the one from the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction commission: $3 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. This path is folly, and we don’t have to look any further than last summer’s debt-ceiling deal to see why.

The Growing Dangers of Cronyism

By David Henderson

The 2012 campaign trail has been rife with accusations of “cronyism” from both sides.

Anger over backdoor deals between government and business has spurred an uptick in legislation, regulation, and oversight. Here’s the problem: with an increase in government comes an increase in privileges for special interests. And in the end, taxpayers and consumers get the short end of the stick while politicians and their cronies reap the rewards of having friends in high places.

Racism? No, Obama’s Own Incompetence Is Hurting His Campaign

Is slowing economic growth behind Obama’s failure to dominate in the polls? Not according to his supporters. They blame voters’—especially the GOP’s—implacable racial animus. Michael Medved with a rebuttal.

As the Obama campaign struggles against powerful riptides of economic bad news, some of the president’s most fervent apologists have returned to the old habit of blaming all his political troubles on racism.

President Barack Obama addresses a room full of mostly senior citizens as he speaks about the US economy during a campaign stop in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Brian Blanco, EPA / Landov)

State Sen. Louise Lucas, one of the leaders of the official “Obama Truth Team” in the crucial swing state of Virginia, told a local radio show that Mitt Romney and his supporters won’t accept anyone “other than a white man in the White House.” She declared that she couldn’t conceive of any other reason that her fellow citizens might disapprove of the incumbent president. “All of the folks who are saying, ‘We don’t like Barack Obama,’ they can’t tell you any reason that they don’t…I absolutely believe it’s all about race, and for the first time in my life I’ve been able to convince my children finally that racism is alive and well.”

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Why Can't Obama Be More Like Reagan?