Meth lab busts soar in N.C.

The bad and good news is meth lab busts soar. Drug use is an epidemic. The percentage of arrests that are for drugs is staggering, and the related crime from addicts has a high social cost. We're losing the war on drugs just like every other state sponsored war beginning with the war on poverty, look at Detroit,  and the wars on drugs, and now terrorism.

The only winner is the federal bureaucracy which justifies spending vast sums of borrowed dollars on these causes, while at the same time perpetuating the very thing they attempt to combat.

Running out of money is the only thing that's going to curb the beast that has become our federal government. Next year is going to be tough when automatic federal spending cuts take effect, if Congress doesn't change it's mind, long term unemployment benefits run out, and the Bush era tax cuts expire.

There's no magic bullet except reducing the size of the federal government, beginning with the DHS. It's either that or a police state when the US Treasury loses the ability to borrow money, or a nation enslaved by debt. Either way, it's no longer possible to support the public sector in the manner in which it has grown accustomed, with borrowed money.

That's the reality of the fiscal circumstances in which our federal government finds itself. I say start cutting federal spending now, and Ron Paul is the only candidate who promising to do so  if elected. There's no other way we survive as a nation of free people.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/27/1887496/meth-lab-busts-soar-in-nc.html#storylink=cp

Unemployment and stocks

Unemployment and stocks

In January 2013, extended unemployment benefits run out, tax cut extension expires, and $2.4T in across the board cuts are implemented. All of this spells an unmitigated disaster. The parabolic debt curve must be arrested. The ONLY way to do this is to reduce the size of government, which has essentially replaced the private sector.

Considering it is unlikely we will go what is right, then what is likely depends on whether Obama or Romney are POTUS. Obama will expand government, to what end no one knows, and Romney will allow corporations to continue to loot the national treasury. Either way, we have new masters, the elite, and everyone else is left to fight for the scraps, meaning the housing and labor markets are toast.

It's possible Obama is the lesser of two evils considering the reality of our unsustainable debt trend. Growing government is better than allowing corporations free reign. What is unholy is a corporate government alliance, against which we don't stand a chance economically. I don't know if that's feasible after everything else has been abandoned, there just isn't enough to go around.

So, while corporations continue to move offshore, and government continues to grow, the only unknown is how long the US will be able to borrow money. That is an international concern, as friction overseas translates into dollars invested in Treasuries. There may be a period of calm when the US needs to borrow money, and no one is willing to lend. At that point, there will be no private industry, and corporations will be in the wind. At that point, it will be too late to discuss limiting government and regulating industry. We need both, the lack of which is the legacy of post WWII America.

constitutionality of federal agencies - Survivalist Forum

constitutionality of federal agencies - Survivalist Forum

I believe the US Constitution was suspended by emergency powers granted to the executive branch to conduct war, and has subsequently been eroded by the Patriot Act and NDAA.

As such, it falls into the category of strongly suggested, not rigid boundaries, and the federal government pretty much does what it wants to anyway.

The federal bureaucracy has taken on a life of it's own, and is out of control. Jimmy Carter was the last POTUS to attempt to reign in the bureaucracy and we see how well he fared.

Ron Paul is our last best hope to return our government to a Constitutional Republic. It's already too late, but we may be able to blunt the force of the backlash when the rest of the world jettison's the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Attorney General’s Office
State of North Carolina
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001

Mr. Atterney General,

I'm writing to express my concern over settlement for release of liability of the banks for forging documents, "robo signing", and servicing impropriety.

The State of New York is suing these same banks over the use of Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS). In addition, these same banks are producing false documentation, or robo signed documentation in foreclosure cases.

There is an article today from Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism which provides further analysis of the settlement, and makes the point the Mortgage Settlement is merely another bail out for the banks (http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/more-on-the-role-of-second-liens-and-the-mortgage-settlement-as-stealth-bank-bailout.html).

History will show that shifting private sector losses onto public treasuries will destroy a notion's economy. Bailouts of the banking cartel were wrong in 2008, and they are wrong today. Japan  still suffers from allowing banks to continue to operate after suffering massive losses. Glass-Steagall should be re-enacted and these banks should be forced to realize their losses and not pass them on to private investors.

Sincerely,

[Name Withheld]
Raleigh, North Carolina

FOR OUR POSTERITY? « The Burning Platform

FOR OUR POSTERITY? « The Burning Platform
It's going to take non-violent civil disobedience rising to the level of Vietnam anti-war  and civil rights protests of the 1960's to get the attention of the Congress. Globalism is a good business model, but corporate fascism must be met with equally rigid regulation. That didn't happen and here we are. There is nothing left except the long haul of recovery, but by what means? Mainly cutting spending, tax and entitlement reform, which will displace large numbers of people. There is a good read called, "Who Moved My Cheese?" and that is where all of us will find ourselves when the government well runs dry. That it will run dry, there is no question, only when. RP advocates digging a new well with our own proverbial hands, but it's unlikely a critical mass will listen and take notice unless and until there is a crisis. The WWII generation dug their own well and it lasted a long time. It took a world war to get them to work together. Another world war won't accomplish anything good, it's time to finish what the protesters of the sixties started and dismantle the war machine and the global financial elite it supports. RP is still the right candidate, if only people could see past their own differences and look to see what is for the greater good.

FOR OUR POSTERITY? « The Burning Platform

FOR OUR POSTERITY? « The Burning Platform

The problem with electing RP is he will do what he says he will do, namely cut the federal budget by $1T the first year. Carter was the last President to even attempt to reign in the federal bureaucracy, and we see how well he fared.

The first thing the bureaucracy will do is cause an immediate crash of all things holy and unholy. Remember, they are the largest unionized work force in the world. Drones and non-drones alike will be screaming bloody murder for someone to do something.

The best case for RP to get elected is for the wheels to come off the bus prior to the election, and for somehow public awareness raises to the level that we must cut public spending to pre-WWII levels adjusting for inflation and population and perhaps factor in real, not counterfeit GDP.

Even without bureaucratic sabotage, there will be a severe disruptive effect of cutting that much spending. Most people will not want to endure the remedy, and rather die from the disease of an out of control federal bureaucracy and deficit spending. Public sector spending has effectively crowded out private investment in this country and elsewhere. During a transition phase from all funds being funneled through the bureaucracy, to as little as possible, jobs will be lost, that will need to be made up for by the private sector. The best way to do this is to get rid of the Fed, maybe even a debt jubilee. I don't know what it will take to effect such a sea change.

If RP isn't elected, and an establishment candidate takes control, $2.4T in spending cuts over 10 years will be implemented beginning Jan, 2013. Republicans are already complaining that $700B is too much to cut from defense spending, so we may forego these cuts altogether.

With the CBO report released this week, at least candidates want be able to run around declaring how grand things are, and we're on the right track.

A sea change in an organized manner, is better than a deflationary depression, unless you ask a 1/10th of one percenter, who would rather see Rome burn to the ground than give up one red cent. I don't know if there's a gold standard in Hell, but they don't deserve one if there is.

Yet More Mortgage Settlement Lies: Release Looks Broad, Not Narrow; Other States Screwed to Bribe California to Join « naked capitalism

Yet More Mortgage Settlement Lies: Release Looks Broad, Not Narrow; Other States Screwed to Bribe California to Join « naked capitalism
Roy Cooper
Attorney General
State of North Carolina

Mr. Attorney General,

I'm writing once again to express my opposition any settlement of mortgage fraud by the banking industry. Banks made billions selling trillions of dollars in loans and subsequent fraudulent transfers.

Liability for fraud isn't limited to how much money was made, but by the damage that was caused by the fraud. Millions of dollars in title transfer fees are still owed to counties by for land transfers made using the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS).

Rushing to settle with the banking industry takes away the individual borrowers ability to defend against ongoing fraudulent foreclosure practices including document forgery and "robosigning".

Industry experts are closely watching these proceedings and have serious concerns about the banking industry getting a cash for release deal.

Please read this article written by Yves Smith in New York about this deal, and please monitor her website to get the other side of the story.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/yet-more-mortgage-settlement-lies-release-looks-broad-not-narrow-other-states-screwed-to-bribe-california-to-join.html


Yours truly,

[Name Withheld]
Raleigh, NC