Dear Friends:
A short time ago I sent out an email to my distribution list detailing the move by the state of Oklahoma in passing a declaration of state sovereignty. Since that time, several additional state legislative branches are now in the process of bringing similar measures to the forefront. Below my brief comments is another important development along this same front which I have included in its entirety for your convenience.
It is important to note two things:
(1.) Legislation such as this does not arise unless it has considerable public support in those various states (elected representatives do not generally willy-nilly sponsor legislation which is wildly unpopular with the folks who vote) and
(2.) The fact that more and more states are moving in this direction is a sign that this movement is beginning to spread and could soon become a prairie fire
In my previous email (please let me know if you did not receive that and would like to have it) I argued that the states are the last line of defense against a creeping, no, strike that, surging tidal wave of socialism originating out of the Obama administration and his allies in the Democratically controlled Congress. Since we cannot count on either of those two branches voluntarily restricting their own power, seeing that both of them are now under the control of those who disdain the Constitution and our system of federalism, failure to assert their sovereign rights under the 9th and 10thamendments, will see the states inevitably become servile vassals of their would-be masters in DC.
Do not look for help from the Supreme Court in this fight because the deciding 5th vote in many such matters rests squarely on the shoulders of Justice Kennedy, whom many of you have come to rightfully understand as being notoriously unreliable when it comes to taking an originalist view of the Constitution.
It is becoming increasingly evident that the two systems of political theory that dominate the now United States are mutually exclusive of each other and that unless a bulwark erected by the states arises with which to check the rise of statism in this nation, Washington DC will soon more closely resemble the Brussels of the European Union than the center of the LIMITED federal government which our Founding Fathers not only envisioned, but bequeathed to us in stewardship for each successive generation.
I would urge all of you who love this nation and cherish the values upon which it was founded to not be lulled into a false sense of complacency and particularly not to become apathetic or indifferent to what is taking place around you. Remember, liberty is a rare, precious and fragile thing and is only one generation away from perishing. Do not let it be said by your children, that “my parents saw this happening and did nothing to prevent it”.
Might I urge those of you who might have never before actually taken the time to read through the Constitution of the United States to please do so? First time readers will simultaneously both be amazed and astonished. Amazed at the wisdom of our forefathers in devising such a marvelous system of limited government and astonished by the disdain of those now in power towards the very bedrock principles enumerated therein.
Sincerely,
Dan Norcini
Five More States Invoke the 10th
by A.W.R. Hawkins
Posted 03/04/2009 ET
Last week, HUMAN EVENTS reported that eleven states, Washington, New Hampshire, Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas, had all “all introduced bills and resolutions” declaring their sovereignty over Obama’s actions in light of the 10th Amendment.
These actions are in response to the Obama administration’s faux-“stimulus” legislation which directly assaults the rights of states to reject the money coming from the federal government. So far, several Republican governors — among them South Carolina’s Mark Sanford and Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal — have said they would refuse all or part of the stimulus money because of the constitutional infringements and because of the additional unfunded liabilities they impose on the states.
This week, HUMAN EVENTS is happy to report that five more states have decided to invoke the 10th as well.
These five — Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana, and West Virginia — have all begun their action under the 10th Amendment in a bid to protect themselves from what they view as nothing less than an unconstitutional usurpation of power on the part of the Obama administration.
On February 23, HJR 108 was put forth in the Tennessee legislature, indicating that legislators in that state decided “it [was] time to affirm state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and demand the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution,” according to Truman Bean.
Dear Trader Dan,
In light of your article this morning, the following gains some creditability as a trend of desire, if not reality. I used to feel this thesis was bonkers. I still feel it is quite extreme but anything is possible as people recognize they have been had
The only reason you got the plan to tank all SIVs or what is left of them by this morning’s mortgage program is the fact that $9.5 trillion has gone to the Fat Cats and done nothing for employment or housing – absolutely nothing at all.
This thesis is a dollar dead thesis.
Regards,
Jim
Russian scholar says US will collapse – next year
By MIKE ECKEL
MOSCOW (AP) — If you’re inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn’t mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.
Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry’s school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia’s state-guided TV channels. And his predictions fit into the anti-American story line of the Kremlin leadership.
"There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010," Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy — a lecture the ministry pointedly invited The Associated Press and other foreign media to attend.
The prediction from Panarin, a former spokesman for Russia’s Federal Space Agency and reportedly an ex-KGB analyst, meshes with the negative view of the U.S. that has been flowing from the Kremlin in recent years, in particular from Vladimir Putin.
Putin, the former president who is now prime minister, has likened the United States to Nazi Germany’s Third Reich and blames Washington for the global financial crisis that has pounded the Russian economy.
Subject: Watch for mortgage fireworks this afternoon and Thurs
Jim,
I only have a second to send this note to you as I and most of those on the operational side of the mortgage industry are spending an average 18+ hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to anticipate and plan for the operational impact of the Obama mortgage announcement this morning (which, by the way, no one in the mortgage industry fully knows the details of – yet).
All that most in the mortgage industry can agree on at this point in time is that there will be so many calls coming in to mortgage companies by borrowers lining up for their Obama benefits that most companies will not be able to handle them all. In fact, there is some concern that phone capacity in some areas of the country (I mean total phone capacity) may be overwhelmed as people start dialing for dollars this afternoon and Thursday.
Watch for news reports of people who are mad that they could not get through, or did not get the answer they expected, etc., etc.
I hope it isn’t so, but it is a strong possibility in my humble opinion (and in the opinion of others who know far more than I do).
Your CIGA in the Mortgage Finance Industry
Dear Jim,
Here is something of interest especially on Agriculture going forward:
Maria Bartiromo interviewed Jim Rogers for the current issue of Business Week. Rogers was George Soros’ partner when they started the fabulous Quantum Fund. Rogers retired and invented his famous commodity index. Here are some tidbits from the interview:
Question — What do you think of the government’s response to the economic crisis?
Rogers — "Terrible. They’re making it worse. It’s pretty embarrassing for President Obama, who doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what’s going on — which would make sense from his background. And he has hired people who are part of the problem (Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner who was head of the New York Fed, which was supposedly in charge of Wall Street and the banks more than anybody else. And you remember Obama’s chief economic adviser, Larry Summer, helped bail out Long Term Capital Management years ago. These are people who think the only solution is save their friends in Wall Street rather than save 300 million Americans."
Question — So what would you be doing?
Rogers — "What I would like to see happen? I’d like to see them let these people go bankrupt, let the bankrupt go bankrupt, stop bailing them out. There are plenty of banks in America that saw this coming, that kept their powder dry and have been waiting for the opportunity to go in and take over the assets of the incompetent. Likewise, many, many homeowners didn’t go out and buy five homes with no income. Many homeowners have been waiting for this, and now all of a sudden the government is saying: "Well, too bad for you. We don’t care if you did it right or not, we’re going to bail out the 100,000 or 200,000 who did it wrong." I mean, this is outrageous economics, and it’s terrible morality."
On Wall Street-
"Wall Street has paid something like $40 billion or $50 billion in bonuses in the last decade… Stan O’Neal (of Merrill Lynch)… He got $150 million for leaving, even though he ruined the company. Look at the guy at Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines. He did worse accounting than Enron. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac alone did nothing but pure fraudulent accounting year after year, and yet that guy is walking around with millions of dollars. What the hell kind of system is this?"
On agriculture-
"I really think agriculture is going to be the place to be. Agriculture’s been a horrible business for 30 years. For decades the money shufflers, the paper shufflers, have been the captains of the universe. That is changing. The people who produce real things will be on top. You’re going to see stockbrokers driving taxis. The smart ones will learn to drive tractors, because they’ll be working for the farmers. It’s going to be the 29-year-old farmers who have the Lamborghinis. So you should find yourself a nice farmer and hook up with him or her, because that’s where the money’s going to be in the next couple of decades."
Jim and Dan,
"The price will rise high enough to balance out the Federal Government’s outstanding obligations which at the rate they are increasing, means a substantially higher gold price. When that occurs, the price of gold will no longer be free floating in the sense that it is today but it will be more or less a type of floating peg for lack of a better phrase."
Excellent description.
Regards,
CIGA Eric
