The Freedom Factory

We are moving closer towards a political economy every day. Every dollar borrowed, taxed, printed, and spent by government really comes from the private sector.  Trillions of dollars of national resources are being allocated by politicians and bureaucrats towards things they claim will benefit our economy. Congress just passed a $3.6 trillion budget ($1.2 trillion in deficit), and combined the Federal Reserve and Treasury have dumped $13 trillion into the economy in the last 16 months. What we must all ask ourselves right now is whether or not we trust government with our money? Continue Reading

In a speech to the European Parliament, British Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan confronts Prime Minister Gordon Brown:

In the last 12 months a 100,000 private sector jobs have been lost and yet you’ve created 30000 public sector jobs. pm, you cannot carry on forever squeezing the productive bit of the economy in order to fund an unprecedented engorgement of the unproductive bit. You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt.

Hannan is furious with Britain’s response to the financial downturn, decrying the borrowing, spending, currency devaluation, and increased Socialization of the economy as destructive. It turns out that everything Britain is doing wrong is being done in the U.S.

Check out Daniel Hannan’s book, The Plan: Twelve Months To Renew Britain.

Obama rejects Gov. Sanford’s plan to use stimulus money to pay down South Carolina debt, Russia planning ‘large-scale’ rearming, Obama’s health care plans will cost at least $1.5 trillion, companies fight back against Obama’s economic plans saying they are hurtful, Obama tries to overrule Congress and stifle whistle-blowing, Argentina moves to nationalize factory owned by Lockheed Martin, and big changes stirrup up at the U.N…just the latest in your Freedom Under Fire Report! Continue Reading

Like you, I am upset at the egregious pace of government spending without restraint.  I am upset more and more people are using the force of government to take from the responsible, productive, and tax paying American people in order to re-distribute wealth.  Wealth, gained through honest, industrial, and capitalistic work.  Wealth gained by free market exchange of materials, services, and ideas.  Wealth, the reward for sacrifice, hard work, planning, and thrifty living.

We learned at young age thriftiness means: working to pay one’s way and to help others, saving for unforeseen needs, and protecting and conserving natural resources.  Thriftiness is a virtue absolutely lost on large populations today.  The loss of virtue is evident in the reward for people who extended beyond their own means.  People who knowingly agreed to contract to repay for a dwelling they had no means to pay for are without virtue.  Virtue is gone as a growing populace continuously uses government to forcefully take from those of responsible means and give to those who have not earned it. Virtue is found in the entrepreneurs, the inventors, and the industrialists inside the very fabric that made America great.  The same virtue is found in every hard working American who puts in extra time, strives for extra hours or works multiple jobs in order to provide a better quality of life.  Abraham Lincoln:

Property is the fruit of labor…property is desirable…is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

As we work harder, more and more people feel entitled to the fruits of our hard work.  These people have organized and elected a federal government that sees fit to transfer 100% of the tax burden to the upper 49% of wage earners in this country.  If successful, please tell me how 51% of the population who is receiving some form of entitlement from the 49% of tax-paying Americans ever give that power up. Thomas Jefferson said it better:

A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.

or maybe even more telling, Thomas Jefferson:

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

When you only tax a certain portion of the populace, you have already set up class warfare because the people not paying taxes have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

And I have to include my favorite quote from Alexander Fraser Tytler:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: ‘>From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

What we are presented with today is not just doom and gloom for free-market capitalists because the government is applying more regulations and taxes for the “common good” to promote the “general welfare.”  But rather, we are experiencing the largest transfer of power from the American people to the government in the history of this great nation. We, the worried liberty loving, free market capitalists who generate jobs and fortunes never before seen on this earth will soon be silenced.  Soon, we won’t have a vote because we will be in the eternal minority of achievers who make this country run.  We,  are the motive power behind economic superiority.  The take-over of our liberty and property is being cheered as popular change.  Change that promotes giving people an equivalent fish to eat today, while relying on hard working individuals to fish harder tomorrow in order to provide more fish to the same undeserving people.  You have the right to pursue happiness, i.e. go fishing, you do not have the right to be given a fish at the expense of someone else.

The system works because we’re too busy working harder in order to be taxed more in order to maintain a quality life we have earned.  They rely on us and our ingenuity to invent new wealth such that they can tax it and redistribute it.

Ludwig von Mises:

It is important to remember that government interference always means either violent action or the threat of such action. The funds that a government spends for whatever purposes are levied by taxation. And taxes are paid because the taxpayers are afraid of offering resistance to the tax gatherers. They know that any disobedience or resistance is hopeless. As long as this is the state of affairs, the government is able to collect the money that it wants to spend. Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men… Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.

I understand if you are frustrated. I am frustrated too.  It seems as if we don’t have a voice to be taken seriously because we are called selfish for wanting to keep the property we have earned in our lives.  Never forget, we earned our property such that we have the personal choice to do with it as we please. That choice is called liberty.  When you exercise your choice, you have experienced freedom.    It’s not selfish, it’s your constitutional protected right to have the choice on how your property is distributed.

William Boetcker:

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Death and taxes a given?  We can’t die without at first living.  We can’t pay taxes without at first prospering.  I ask the government to get out of the way of the industrialists, the capitalists, and the hard workers such that we can prosper.  A government that strives to guarantee equality of outcomes is in direct violation with a constitution that guarantees equality in opportunity.

The government relies on our taxes every pay period, every month in order to provide entitlements to those who have not earned them.  They won’t pay attention until they know we are serious about fighting back.  If we want them to pay attention, we need to withhold, even for just a little while, the very thing they rely on us to provide.  Without the legalized looting of their plunder, our property, the government won’t be able to fund the programs that enable and promote the very anti-thriftiness ideals that are so popular today.

Raise your federal and state tax withholding to the maximum for 2009. When April 15, 2010 comes along, file the maximum extension.  Delay paying into a system that only wants to drain you as long as legally possible. Let this be the wake up call to all liberty loving Americans. Let this be our generation’s tea party.

Will Washington D.C. have new legislative rep? Top technical trader says now is the time to buy stocks, Fed Chief vows to flood economy with dollars, U.S. plans to give away $900 million to Gaza, home price index declines sharply, lobbyists want more bailouts, combat troops exiting Iraq in 2010, scientists often confuse fact with opinion, and this is not your father’s country anymore…just the latest in your Freedom Under Fire Report!

Everyday our liberties and freedom come under fire. The American Republic once protected its citizens from arbitrary abuse, extortion, and deliberate social engineering. Now the very same public servants who were meant to work for us connive daily on how to control our lives. The Republic is gone and we are left to fend for ourselves, to put up resistance to every encroachment on individual self-determination. The Freedom Under Fire Report provides daily coverage of the most important issues, so that you remain informed and ready to defend yourself. Read on and pass this around to everyone you think could benefit:

Senate Advances Bill to create Seat in House for Washington. The Senate advanced a proposal to give residents of Washington, D.C., a voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives. This motion went forward with a 62-34 vote, which would also give Utah a fourth representative. President Obama was co-sponsor of this measure while acting as Illinois Senator. Critics cite the heavy leaning Democrat base in Washington as reason for Democrats pushing for the measure. Another seat in the House would further tip the voting balance in their favor.

Top Technical Trader Predicts Near Term Rally for Stocks. Elliot Wave International Inc.’s Robert Prechter, who advised shorting U.S. stocks three months before the bear market began, is recommending investors end that bet and buy stocks. He warned of a “sharp and scary” rebound for anyone still wagering on a retreat. “This is an environment of escalating financial chaos. Our main job is to keep the money we have. If we exit [close short positions] now, we will do that.”

Bernanke Vows to Use Every Tool to Stem Financial Crisis. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee today that he is “committed to using all available tools” to stem the financial crisis and unfreeze credit markets. You can expect a good deal of money printing to accompany this statement. Buy gold.

U.S. Plans to Give Away $900 million to Rebuild Gaza. The U.S. plans to offer more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel’s invasion. The funds are supposed to be diverted to the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority, circumvented from Hamas, which currently controls Gaza. Senator Clinton intends to announce this give-away at a conference in Egypt next week, but the measure still needs to pass Congressional vote.

Home Price Index Shows Sharp Declines at end of Year. The Case-Shiller home price index measured an 18.5% year-over-year decline in December of last year for 20 major metropolitan areas. Housing prices dropped 2.5% from November to December. The real estate crisis is not behind us just yet.

Lobbyists Press for Billions more Added to Bailouts. The government faced mounting pressure on Monday to put billions more in some of the nation’s biggest banks, two of the biggest automakers, and the biggest insurance company, despite the billions is has already committed to rescuing them. Upwards of $200 billion have already been committed to AIG, Citigroup, General Motors, and Chrysler, but combined these companies, alone, are requesting tens of billions more.

U.S. Combat Troops Evacuating Iraq mid-2010. President Obama intends to remove all combat troops from Iraq by August, 2010. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers will remain in the country to advise and train Iraqi security forces and to protect U.S. interests.

Scientists Confuse Opinion with Fact in Politics. Dr. Pielke, a professor in the University of Colorado’s environmental studies program, discusses his book “The Honest Broker.” The premise is that most scientists are fundamentally mistaken about their role in political debates. Dr. Pielke says they jeopardize their credibility while impeding solutions to problems like global warming. “Too often,” Dr. Pielke says, “they [scientists] pose as impartial experts pointing politicians to the only option that makes scientific sense. To boster their case, they’re prone to exaggerate their expertise (like enumerating the catastrophes that would occur if tehir policies aren’t adopted), while denigrating their political opponents as ‘unqualified’ or ‘unscientific’.” The policy areas cited as examples in his book are global warming, and issues related to population growth.

This is Not Your Father’s Country Anymore: Buckle Up for “Shared Sacrifice”. CNN correspondent Jack Cafferty laments on the changes he has seen in America throughout his life. He cites that the national debt is fast approaching $12 trillion, with just the interst payment reaching $500 billion a year. On top of this Cafferty adds the “tens of trillions in unfunded liabilities” for Medicare and Social Security, with trillions more debt coming down the line with the myriad bailout measures. With such a long history of bad policy, bad government management, the only eventuality is to prepare for a “shared sacrifice” in dealing with lower lifestyle expectations. Why would productive, intelligent young folks accept a “sacrifice” forced upon them by the bad decisions of previous generations? The reality is that those you most want to stay in this country will likely find cause to leave.

With all the speculation on a government takeover of the banking industry, including Alan Greenspan’s statement that “the U.S. may have to temporarily nationalize some banks until the industry is restructured,” we should do some serious soul searching. America has a long tradition of respecting property rights and restricting government power from the private domain. Overt nationalization would be unconstitutional, but change is in the air… Continue Reading

Everyday our liberties and freedom come under fire. The American Republic once protected its citizens from arbitrary abuse, extortion, and deliberate social engineering. Now the very same public servants who were meant to work for us connive daily on how to control our lives. The Republic is gone and we are left to fend for ourselves, to put up resistance to every encroachment on individual self-determination. The Freedom Under Fire Report provides daily coverage of the most important issues, so that you remain informed and ready to defend yourself. Read on and pass this around to everyone you think could benefit: Continue Reading

With financial markets disintegrating, housing devastated, unemployment nearing double digits, and our incoming president warning that things will get worse before they get better, it is tough to see better times on the horizon. One simple observation should inspire some bit of hope, however: stocks go up the more government borrows and spends. Continue Reading

“I’ve been trying … to think of a way to illustrate how big a trillion is. The best that I could come up with is that if you had a stack of $1000 dollar bills in your hand only four inches high, you would be a millionaire. A trillion dollars would be a stack of $1000 dollar bills 67 miles high.”

Ronald Regan said this quote in 1981 to help people visualize the size of the national debt, which was approaching $1 trillion.   By comparison, the $700 billion bailout would be a stack of $1000 dollar bills 44 miles high.

Continue Reading