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I
suppose, I should start off by apologizing to Buffalo Springfield for
borrowing a line from an old song of his. Reading and watching the news
gives me the clear impression that there is a growing dissatisfaction with
things here in the good old U.S. of A. Sunday's AOL poll dances around
the issues, but clearly points out a problem with dissatisfied
citizens. Congressman Ron Paul has raised several questions that
"John Q. Public" finds interesting. All of a sudden, someone
is making comments out loud that several of us have been making in
private.
A
Fox news poll showed that he clearly won the debate; however, he is now being
pushed aside by the mainstream media. I suppose, he deviated from the
approved answers, and now he has to go. Quite frankly, I think there is
a chance that he may not live long enough to be elected, as he is working on
the wrong "talking points" from the official "demopublican"
party line. It will be interesting if the mainstream press can
marginalize him or if his campaign will be strong enough from a grassroots
level to survive.
Congressman Paul offers the only alternative option from the tax and spend
(and then spend some more) candidates already out there. He alone
stands above them all in principle and adherence to the ideals that founded
this country. He is the only chance to vote for true liberty for our
constitutional republic in this next election. Gasoline just soared above
$3.00/gallon this past weekend.
At Shadow Government Statistics, www.shadowstats.com,
Mr. Williams reports that M3 growth is almost 13% with the liquidity taps
wide open. Inflation calculated by governmental pre-Clinton methods is
double the now "official" figures. The real inflation number
(including fuel, food and housing) is probably closer to 10%. Real
unemployment, including chronically unemployed and under employed, is well
over 10% and probably much higher.
At www.myhodges.home.att.net,
the grandfather report, states that the government has captured 57% of the
economy, leaving only 43% of the economy for the private sector. Guess
who is pulling the wagon? We have fewer horses pulling a bigger
wagon. Some feel the solution is to flog the horses harder. A
government somewhere around 15% of the economy seems about right to
me.
I am currently re-reading T. Harry William's masterful biography of Huey P.
Long. In the depths of the great depression, he was concerned about the
disappearing middle class. The rich were getting richer and the poor
were getting poorer. The concentration of wealth in the top 1% of the
population was at an all time high. He recommended liquidating all
wealth over $5 million dollars and incomes over 300 times the average wage.
His "Share the Wealth" Program was accused of being socialist, but
he strongly denied the charge. He claimed that it was going to save
capitalism from serfdom. Of course, they killed Long.
With today's outlandish C.E.O. salaries, his claims resonate a bit in the
current economy. It is only because the C.E.O.'s pack the compensation
committee with directors that are no longer majority shareholders that they
are able to capture such large profits from the shareholders. (It's not
their money.) And you have to wonder, what exactly does Goldman Sachs
do that makes its top men so powerful that they keep ending up heading up the
U.S. treasury department. But, there is much for concern among
the citizens. Homeland Security can't seem to secure our borders, but
they can strip search Grandma at the airport. The National Guard is no
longer under control of the local governors. The local police are
becoming militarized (more Barney and less Andy). The Democrats are now
in charge of Congress and nothing has changed. Perpetual war for
perpetual peace is the new mantra in the Middle East. There is the
loss of civil rights through the Patriot Act I and II (do I hear III?).
Manufacturing jobs are still leaving the country at an alarming rate.
Negative savings rates and maxed-out Visa Cards. And finally, just too
much money at the end of the month! Why do I air this laundry
list of problems? Because, there is a general discontent building in
this country, and the general population is not quite sure why they are unhappy,
but it is growing. The general population can be distracted for only so
long. I have faith that the average man is not a fool.
There is a growing feeling that things are not well, and that maybe, just
maybe, we have been lied to by our own government. Maybe Ron Paul is
the right man in the right place for MEANINGFUL change. But, it is not
radical change. He is proposing that we simply rein in our government
back to its original constitutional form. How did we ever go so
far astray? Maybe, we just need someone to lead us home before some
dictator leads us off in the wrong direction.
Larry Laborde
Silver Trading
Company
www.silvertrading.net
Larry lives in the occupied South with his wife Puddy and sells
precious metals at the Silver Trading Company. Larry can be contacted
at llabord@aol.com. You can view
his web site at www.silvertrading.net.
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