Who is Too Big to Fail?

1924 Hupmobile Roadster

We keep being told this company or that company is “too big to fail.” Let’s review some history. How many auto manufactures existed in the early 1900s in the United States alone? The answer: 150 – yes, one hundred fifty. Apparently they weren’t all “too big to fail.” Instead, the market took its natural course and those who couldn’t keep up or didn’t produce the product the public wanted fell by the wayside.

Where are we now? Three major auto makers which are essentially run by the UAW. Is it GM and Chrysler who were “too big to fail” or was it the union bosses at the UAW and control of the union vote that was “too big to fail?” When contract law is thrown out the window and unsecured creditors (the union) are arbitrarily put ahead of secured creditors (bond holders), I think we have the answer. The GM and Chrysler bailouts have nothing to do with making cars, but instead have everything to do with pandering to the unions and increased governmental control over our lives.

The Obama Apology Tour

The Rest of the World Seems to Get It -- Why Don't We?

Here are a couple news items that are very important and frankly frightening in their implications, and of course therefore being ignored by the mainstream media.

1. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner is currently in China on a “please keep buying our debt” tour. While speaking to students at the University of Peking today, when he reassured them Chinese investments in the United States are safe, the students responded with loud laughter! Clearly the average Chinese university student understands more about what’s going on in the United States than the average American, including our so called “leaders.” Also further proof that we need the Chinese much more than they need us. Think that we can "sock it to them" by not buying Chinese goods for a month as one email floating around the internet suggests? Just think what would happen if the Chinese refused to buy any more of our debt for a month! (http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-students-laugh-at-tim-geithner-2009-6) [It occurred to me that I should add a note here for anyone not familiar with Asian culture who might think, "So what? A bunch of college kids laughed." In Asian culture what those students did was very disrespectful and a "loss of face" on Geithner's part. It's not something that we should just dismiss as no big deal.]

2. The following story appeared in the online edition of Pravda. For those of you who weren’t around for the Soviet Union, Pravda was the state news service (and the only news service allowed). If anyone might know a thing or two about Marxism, I’m pretty confident it’s the former Communist Soviets at Pravda today. Here’s what they have to say about the United States and where we’re headed (http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-0/):

American capitalism gone with a whimper

27.04.2009

Source: Pravda.Ru

URL: http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-american_capitalism-0

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people. True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists. Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters. First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish. Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America. The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe. These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them? These men, of course, are not an elected panel but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs and their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars, in one bailout after another. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress (parliament). Again, congress has put up little more then a whimper to their masters. Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions. So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too. Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride. Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper. So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive. The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left. The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker. Stanislav Mishin

The article has been reprinted with the kind permission from the author and originally appears on his blog, Mat Rodina

© 1999-2009. «PRAVDA.Ru». When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, hyperlink to PRAVDA.Ru should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coincide with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's editors.

Friendship

Having had my trust and confidence severely violated recently by some I through were friends, the words of George Washington ring true in my ears:

Be courteous to all but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to appellation.

-- GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter, Jan. 15, 1783

Get Ovet It Already!

Folks,

Why are so many of you playing right into the politicians' hands? The AIG bonus "scandal" is nothing more than a gimmick to distract us from the real issues and to take the heat off the real culprits -- the very politicians who are now crying foul and feigning righteous indignation. Ever seen a magician? How do the great ones perform seemingly incredible feats? They have mastered the skill of misdirection. They get you to focus on one hand so you don't notice what the other hand is doing. Today we are seeing POLITICAL misdirection on an ever increasing scale.

The fact of the matter is, like them or not, the AIG bonuses are part of valid contracts. So are contracts now no longer going to be valid just because a bunch of people don't like the terms of the contract? That is an absolutely absurd notion. Do you not see the abuse of the Constitution for Congress to arbitrarily change the terms of valid contracts for political purposes or to pass laws that affect 70-some AMERICANS again for purely political purposes (including retroactive taxation)? If they do it for one group, then they can come for YOU next -- don't you understand that? Do you not see the incredibly dangerous road which that would lead us down?

Keep in mind as well that the very politicians drumming up public outrage are the very ones who knew about and agreed to the bonuses beforehand! Chris Dodd even inserted specific language to allow the very bonuses he's so "outraged" about now. You are playing right into their game by loosing sight of the actual target. The politicians (both Dem and Rep) want you fired up about AIG and not paying any attention to them. These "protests" are EXACTLY what they want you doing since it means you are no longer watching them!

They are doing this for two reasons: 1) Take the heat off of them since they are the ones who have caused the mess we're in AND have done nothing meaningful to fix it; 2) Even more dangerous, they want you screaming about AIG and "Wall Street greed" so you are no longer paying attention to socialist policies quietly being snuck in either through executive order or as riders to other bills.

Granted, it doesn't make a lot of sense for a company to pay bonuses to people in failing departments. HOWEVER, those are the terms of their contracts -- sounds to me like a company that should have been allowed to fail in the first place, but that's another story. The contracts are valid and EVERYONE knew about them beforehand. It's only become an "issue" now that they're being paid out. GET THE HELL OVER IT and get yourself refocused back on the real fight.

If we're too busy screaming about this and that and fighting against each other, then we are not paying attention to everything else that's really happening. Only two months into it, it is clear nothing in this administration is what it seems, everything has an ulterior motive -- don't loose sight of that! Damn it, get over the AIG bonuses and get your eye back on the ball before really bad things happen!

WE are the Enemy? -- Follow Up

Taking the lead from my blog (see entry below for 16 Mar 09), the Constitution Party today issued the statement below regarding the outrageous Missouri Information Analysis Center report characterizing law abiding American citizens who support the Constitution and the principles and values upon which our nation was founded as "dangerous" "potential domestic terrorists" and "militia" members. The fact that ANY government agency would characterize people who have the crazy notion that we should follow the Constitution as enemies of the state is simply despicable. As you can see in the release below, the Southern Poverty Law Center has jumped on the bandwagon to start calling anyone who opposes Barack Obama a "racist" -- of course non-support of Obama couldn't possible have anything to do with opposition to socialist policies.

Secret Report Targets Americans

Police Told Which Political Beliefs to Consider “Dangerous”

Lancaster, PA: A secret police report targets millions of Americans as potential “domestic terrorists” if they support the Constitution, oppose unlawful taxation, supported 2008 presidential candidates Republican Ron Paul, Libertarian Bob Barr or Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin (Seen here on Lou Dobbs program ), or if they are opposed to abortion, are against unconstitutional gun control, if they display pro-Constitution bumper stickers or own copies of certain books and documentaries.

The report is part of an ongoing attempt by a number of organizations (http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/intrep.jsp) and movements to characterize law-abiding citizens as “white supremacists”, members of “hate groups” or, more recently as “terrorists”.

The report was generated by the Missouri Information Analysis Center

The Center is described as “the mechanism to collect incident reports of suspicious activities to be evaluated and analyzed in an effort to identify potential trends or patterns of terrorist or criminal operations within the state of Missouri. MIAC will also function as a vehicle for two-way communication between federal, state and local law enforcement community within our region.”

The secret report, distributed to Missouri law enforcement, lists as dangerous legitimate organizations including those who follow a Constitutionally-based ideology in regard to states’ rights, firearm ownership, free speech and sanctity of life.

The Constitution Party , the fastest- growing third party, subscribes to the Constitutionally- based, limited role of the federal government and calls on members of all political ideologies to voice strong opposition to smear campaigns that demonize Americans because of their political beliefs.

The Constitution Party made numerous calls to MIAC and was told an “officer” would respond to questions regarding this report.

No one at MIAC returned our calls.

The MIAC report states “rightwing” militia movements “continuously exploit world events in order to increase participation in their movements. Due to the current economical and political situation, a lush environment for militia activity has been created.”

The terms “constitutionalist” and “white supremacist” are often used interchangeably.

Page 7 of the report warns law enforcement that “militia members most commonly associate with 3^rd party political groups. It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional [sic] Party, Campaign for Liberty or Libertarian material. These members are usually supporters of former presidential candidate:[sic] Ron Paul Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr.”

Issues of concern to those listed by MIAC as reason for law enforcement to label them “terrorists” include: Opposition to illegal immigration, implementation of RFID (radio frequency identification) and the planned merger of the US, Canada and Mexico (North American Union). The so-called “militia movement” contains people who own copies of the late Aaron Russo’s anti-tax documentary America: Freedom to Fascism.

Members of a so-called “patriot movement” are described as being “dangerous” to police in a section of the report titled “You Are the Enemy” which states:

“The militia subscribes to an anti-government and NWO mindset, which creates a threat to law enforcement officers. They view the military, National Guard, and law enforcement as a force that will confiscate their firearms and place them in FEMA concentration camps.”

The MIAC report distributed to Missouri law enforcement is a more virulent version of a similar report compiled by the FBI in Phoenix, AZ during the Clinton administration (see page one and page two of the document). The Phoenix FBI document calls “defenders” of the Constitution “right-wing extremists.”

Constitution Party 2008 presidential and vice presidential candidates Chuck Baldwin and Darrell Castle, along with CP National Chairman Jim Clymer, are available to discuss this disturbing report and the severe limitations it seeks to impose on free speech.

Inquiries regarding this secret report may be made to: MIAC at 866 362 6422.

To see where citizens are encouraged to submit a report that someone could be a “terrorist” click HERE.

###

Take Action Now!

1. Call the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and say you will not be visiting Missouri out of concern of being PROFILED.

(314) 231-5555

2. Call the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission and tell them you won't visit Missouri because of "political profiling". (800) 325-7962

3. Call the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and tell them their smear campaign is not acceptable.(866) 362-6422 and (573)-526-6115

My Public Apology

Here's one email I recently received:

PLEASE remove my address from your email listings. I am not interested in any of this and never signed up to be put on any political mail listings.
[Name Removed to Protect the Ignorant]

Mea cupla, mea cupla, mea maxiuma cupla. I feel so bad for clearly having offended at least a couple people out there. So, to make up for it, here is my public apology:

Dear [Insert Your Name Here if Appropriate]:

I humbly apologize and beg forgiveness for bothering you with trivial "political" issues such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America, the Bill of Rights and the values and principles upon which our nation was founded and upon which the fate of our Republic rests. I am sorry to bother you with such petty things of which you have no interest (or don't happen to meet your party line).

I also want to sincerely and deeply thank you sending me your note. In the times we're facing, it's good to know exactly who understands it's not about Left and Right, but about RIGHT and WRONG. It's also a tremendous benefit to know not only who you can count on when the times get tough, but it's just as, if not more important to know who you CANNOT count on when the going gets tough. Thank you for letting me know ahead of time to which group you belong.

Finally, may you rest well in the knowledge that my fellow service men and women around the world are defending with their lives your right to "not be interested in any of this" or to blindly tow your party line.

Thank you and may God bless you and the United States of America.

Sincerely,

Steve

The Scapegoat is . . . YOU!

How could the nation change so much in just two months and the majority of Americans not care (or worse, support those changes and want more of the same)? You wanted change, well you got it all right! With the road we're headed down, change is also all you're going to have left in your pockets too.

How can we have such a wholesale abandonment of American principles and values and so few people care? Why did we allow ourselves to get to the point where we have "career" politicians who no longer understand THEY work for US? It's simply pathetic.

The latest tactic being employed by our "leaders" should scare the daylights out of anyone who knows history. Join me for a brief stroll down the pages of history. What happened when times got tough in Ancient Rome? Blame the Christians -- after all THEY were the real problem. How about in 1920s and 1930s Germany with all its economic problems? Blame the Jews -- after all THEY were the real problem. Finally pick any communist country you can think of and the problems every one of them has faced? Blame the "dissenters" (i.e. anyone speaking out for freedom and liberty) -- after all THEY were the real problem.

What do all those examples have in common? They were all totalitarian governments (pick your flavor: imperialist, fascist, socialist, communist -- at their heart they're all the same: tyrannical). Next, what happened in every case where there was a crisis in the nation that might make the government look bad or the government needed to distract the people? In every case, they found a convenient scapegoat; some group of citizens the government could easily point to and say, "See, they are the problem."

So that brings us to the United States today. In the past two months, have we not seen this tactic being employed on an ever increasing basis by our "leaders?" Attacks against Rush Limbaugh, the Missouri State Police report (see below) on "militia" members and, though most might not realize it, the Democrat leadership "outrage" over the AIG bonuses are just a few examples from recent weeks. Every single one of these is designed to scapegoat a group of people as a distraction.

This constant distraction serves two purposes. First, it keeps people's attention off the failure of our elected representatives; both in being accomplices to our current problems and their failure to actually tackle and solve our current problems. Second, and even more ominous, it keeps people's attention off the dangerous sprint towards socialism in which we're headed as a nation. If we're too busy complaining about AIG bonuses, then we don't have time to notice all the socialistic policies being slipped through the cracks, either via executive order or quietly slipped in as riders to various bills.

Why do I consider the AIG bonus issue a distraction? It doesn't matter if you think the bonuses are "outrageous" or not (in fact, I say God Bless America where we still have a nation in which you can become whatever you want if you just work hard enough). Let's look at the facts, which the President and Liberals, and by extension the media, don't want to mention. The people at AIG are not receiving bonuses as a "gift." Their bonuses are part of their contractual pay agreement with AIG. In fact, they receive a small base pay and the majority of their pay comes through a formula agreed to in their contract. This arrangement has never been a secret. EVERYONE knew about it -- the President, Congress, the Fed -- everyone. In fact, Democrats specifically inserted language into the "bailout bill" which specified that employment contracts signed before a certain date (which there were) would be honored.

Only now that the contractually agreed to bonuses, which everyone knew about, are being paid out does the President and Congress fain outrage and incite the American people that this is unacceptable. How can this be anything other than scapegoating? It's despicable that the President and Congress and the Fed knew about and agreed to these contracts beforehand, but are now attempting to incite rage among the American people in order to void the very contracts they deemed acceptable months ago.

Why do this? If AIG was engaging in unsustainable business practices through paying "outrageous" salaries and bonuses, then why not just let them fail or allow them to enter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization like any other company? The auto industry is hurting, yet the government is not demanding they arbitrarily void costly and bloated UAW contracts. To do that would cost them union votes. This is where I see the situation as nothing more than a distraction to hide the real agenda. These AIG employees make a perfect scapegoat for the left -- they represent the "evil, greedy" rich. Mark my words, the liberal leadership will use AIG as a poster child to introduce more socialist legislation and place more restrictions on capitalism. The President has people so fired up with "hating the rich," they are blinded to the real agenda, which is socialism and continued abandonment of the Constitution.

Folks, when we see this kind of scapegoating and the portrayal by the government of freedom loving Americans as dangerous "militia," we are headed down a very dark and dangerous path. I hope and pray I'm wrong, but I fear greatly that day by day, our options to peacefully take back on nation and reestablish its Constitutional basis are becoming more and more limited. This is NOT about Left and Right, this is about right and wrong. We need to come together NOW as an AMERICAN people to regain control of OUR government before its too late.

I don't care if you're a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Constitutionalist, or whatever. If you are a friend of the Constitution and the values and principles upon which our nation was founded, then you are my ally. Likewise, I don't care in which political party you claim membership, if your words or actions threaten the Constitution and our values and principles, then you are my enemy. Now is not the time to complacently sit on the sideline like so many have for so long. Now is the time to stand up and declare honestly if you are a friend or an enemy of the Constitution. What is your decision?

WE are the Enemy?

Are you familiar with the Missouri law enforcement report on the "modern militia movement" which recently came to public light? If not, a complete copy of the report can be found here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13271183/Missouri-Information-Analysis-Center-Strategic-Report-The-Modern-Malitia-Movement.

So, law enforcement are now being indoctrinated that informed citizens who actually understand and support the principles and values upon which our country was founded are "militia" members who hate the police? So, now the government is putting it in writing that WE are the enemy? Thankfully there are at least a few law enforcement members who "get it" as well, as that is how this report was brought to public attention.

There keeps being a debate about if the military would act against American citizens. My opinion is that the majority of today's troops come from our defunct public education system and have little to no understanding of the Constitution or the Oath of Office which they took (not to mention gang members who have infiltrated the military) and will simply follow whatever order they're given. I know there are a few of us who understand our Oath and its Constitutional implications, but I fear we're in an ever decreasing minority both in the military and in civilian society. Look at the fact that MILITARY troops were dispatched in the recent shooting in Alabama and the public at large didn't care and the troops blindly followed illegal orders.

I hope and pray that I'm wrong, but as more and more evidence stacks up every day, I fear I'm correct. Not only has our government completely abandoned the Constitution, those of us who stand up for the Constitution and American principles and values are starting to be portrayed by the powers that be as Public Enemy Number One.

History has shown us what happens when a government decides IT is the supreme power over the people and what happens when the government singles out a group of its own people as the "enemy."

Thoughts?

Insights of Thomas Jefferson

As I keep repeating over and over, want to learn what's wrong with our country today and how to fix it? Then just go back to the writings of our founders. Here is yet another spot-on insight that applies perfectly today from Thomas Jefferson:

"If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send 150 lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, & talk by the hour? That 150 lawyers should do business together ought not to be expected."

--Thomas Jefferson, autobiography, 1821