Memos for Monday 11-28-11

Barney Bows-out:
Well after 32 years in Congress Barney Frank (D-Mass) is heading to the door. He announced today that he is going through some changes and has decided not run for reelection. To many his bailing out of the race may have been a surprise to many, but I can’t say that I was at all surprised. I have to say that I will not miss him and his immoral and unethical presence in Congress. His defense of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has done real damage to the country. There is no doubt in my mind that he has engaged in activities that would put anyone other than a member of Congress in prison.

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After serving himself for 16 terms he should be given a going away present; the repeal of the Dodd/Frank law. Since both Dodd is gone and now the exiting of Frank, it would be a great way to wipe out the failed legacy of these two failed partisan politicians by repealing a law that contained nothing of value to the nation. This law, which was promised to solve the problems that caused the economic crisis of 2008 has only made thinks worse. It should be replaced with real legislation that addresses the issues identified after the passage of Dodd/Frank. You know Congress, real solutions for real problems not just feel good legislation to allow you say you did something. The problem with feel good legislation is that is does nothing but cover up the real problem.

It will be a great day when that man exits the public stage. It is beyond doubt that he has been part of the top level politically corrupt Congressional leadership. It is just a shame that he did not do the honorable thing and resign. Of course he will just start to lobby Congress or join the left stream media. This is yet another reason to clean up the government by kicking them all out. Now we have another one down and many more to go. So, bye-bye Barney and don’t let the door hit you on the backside as you leave.

So maybe we can also do something of merit to clean up Freddie and Fanny.

Coley Powell – Great Moderates
It appears that Gen. Powell once again shows his impressive credentials as a moderate. This is a man that many conservatives really liked a few years back, well until he opened his mouth. Like many Washington bound Republicans he continues to attempt to sell the nation that the only person who can be elected is a moderate. I really would like to know is: Who are these moderates?

The idea that is constantly sold by many in government is that all Independents are Moderate, all Democrats are Liberal, and all Republicans are Conservative. There is no proof of such claims. In fact a survey from a few years ago shows that most Americans more closely with the views embodied by libertarians. Libertarian beliefs are not moderate beliefs. Neither is the view that the TEA Party is bad for the country denies the popularity of the values expressed by its membership. The people that I have met may be conservative in many ways and they love this nation. They are tired of politicians selling out this country and ignoring the health of the nation. The idea that the majority of Americans believe that we must compromise our values in order to solve problems is not based in reality.

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Maybe Mr. Powell should write a book called “Great Moderates throughout History.” It would be a very short pamphlet. Great leaders know when to compromise, but they never compromise their values, ethics, or integrity. Great leaders lead. They do what is best for those they lead. They learn from their mistakes and look for real solutions. This nation was made great because we have had good leadership when we needed it. The ash bin of history is full of nations who compromised their values by taking the easy path. Great leaders make the tough decisions needed to make the nation prosperous.

Trying to make everyone happy is an impossible task, but if you make the majority prosperous then you are on the right track. Success is not making everyone wealthy, since that is impossible. Success is allowing everyone to have an equal opportunity at live, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Making everything equal doesn’t mean that everyone will be happy.

The idea that we need another moderate to run against President Obama ignores history. Those who run the Republican Party are happy to put forward another Progressive candidate. We don’t need another John McCain or Bob Dole. We don’t need another pseudo-conservative candidate or President. The lesson that should have been learned from the Reagan Revolution is that a true conservative can win and that moderates Republicans can not. This lesson has been ignored due to the Progressives that run both political parties. So all of the conservative Democrats, Republicans, and independence are ignored by the parties and we are only presented with Progressives. The time for the Constitutional Conservatives to flex their muscles and show that we can once again make this country great. That can not be done by compromising our values and principles.

It is time for people like Mr. Powell to stop telling the American people to sit down and shut up. It is our right to address grievances with the government. The TEA Party is exercising that basic right. We are tired of the greed and corruption in Washington. The idea that the problem in Washington is due to the TEA Party is so far from reality that Mr. Powell has the right to speak just as I do. I don’t agree with him, but I will not try to silence him. But I don’t think his ideas are good for the nation and I will oppose anyone who holds his beliefs. If he really believes what he is saying, I believe he needs to take another look at the founding documents and American history.

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©2011 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Power and Privilege

One of my early memories was going to a political rally with my parents. I remember hearing two adults talking about the candidate. In this conversation one person was questioning the candidate’s character. The answer to this question was basically: Hey the best thing we can do is send him to Washington where he can’t do as much harm. This statement shows some of the political naivety of the person and the times. The mid 60s was a time when few people were touched by the Federal government. It was a time when local politics outweighed those of the national government.

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Today it is over 40 years later and few are as naive and believe that those in the US Congress can do little harm. With the National debt passing the $15,000,000,000,000.00 ($15 trillion) fueled even faster by the Federal Government’s takeover of the healthcare system the increasing amount of regulations that are suffocating the economy it is hard to not see that Washington is not the place to send people who are not trustworthy. As more and more power is transferred away from the state and local governments those in the new national government have set up a system of power and privilege that is unlike anything ever seen in the nation’s history.

There is a major problem with the actions of those who say they are in Washington to serve the nation. With the release of information that shows that those in Congress have abused the power given to them and now believe that they are above the code of ethics that once guided the nation. This sense of privilege to wealth and power has enriched those in power and harmed the nation. I was not surprised to see evidence that members of Congress have engaged in insider trading, been bribed with options for IPO stock, and used their power to gather wealth through means that would be illegal for anyone else. In these cases they have exempted themselves from the laws they pass. They also write their own ethics rules. Such power and privilege undermines the foundation of our republic. It is no wonder that their approval ratings are so low. Few people would ever agree that our so-called “public servants” were elected for the purpose of self enrichment.

No one is sure how deep the corruption in Washington goes. Over the years there have been too many things done the only speak to corruption so deep that it is the rule, not the exception. Over the years, more and more of the actions taken have been in direct opposition to the will of the people. It goes deeper than the passage of ObamaCare, but it is the most glaring example of imperialistic rule. It is an example of our government grabbing power with the stated idea that: Once the American people began to get the benefits it would be impossible to repeal it. They hope to corrupt the entire nation in the same way that they have been corrupted. When a national leader states openly that: “That we must pass the bill to find out what is in the bill” they no longer care about serving the public.

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The only defense to this corrupt behavior that I’ve heard was: that nothing that has been done was illegal or violated the ethics rules of Congress. Just because they exempt themselves from the same laws that the rest of America are subject to does not mean that it is moral. Just because they determine that insider trading does not violate their ethics, doesn’t mean it is not unethical. This whole affair calls back to the behavior of monarchies, dictators, and tyrants throughout history. When those who rule lookdown upon those who they are supposed to be protecting, they have lost the humanity required to govern. They seem to believe, and with some good reasons, that they can do anything. They have been able to bribe us with our own money and many of us happy with it. This is not the form of government that many of us expect. Those of us who believe that the nation was built on freedom and honest hard work want those who we send to serve to be ethical, honest, and believe in protecting our Constitutional freedoms. This is not done through insider trading, dishonest self-enrichment, and unethical behavior.

In their places of power the leadership has seemed to sell out the country to the lobbyist and the narrow special interests of those who are willing to buy the privilege. The Dodd/Franks Law was supposed to be an answer to the problems that caused the banking crisis of 2008. One of many issues with this law is the timing. Why was this bill passed before the actual issues that caused the problem were identified and understood? How did the debit card fees charged to retailer cause the near collapse of the economy? Why did it do nothing about the real problems in the banking system? Could it have something to do with the corruption of the authors of the bill? Barney Frank defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to the crisis. Chris Dodd as head of the Senate Banking Committee was way to close to the problem and temptations that his position allowed. What do we not know about his involvement with the insider trading scandal? I trust neither and believe that the rush to pass this bill into law had more to do with covering tracks and less with solving problems. It only appears to be another “feel good” law that shows that they had done something. Whether it did any good or not, it made people think that the problem was solved.

Would it not have been a better solution to once again outlaw interstate banking and separate the brokers from the bankers? With the system created by the repeal of Glass/Steagall Act of 1933 in 1999 allowed banks to grow into what is now known as “too big to fail.” Instead of making a more stable banking system it has created a situation where a failure in one major market endangers the entire economy. It opened the door to the Federal government now is able to meddle in the operations of these large nation banking institutions. Leaving state regulators in less control of what should be a state’s responsibility. It also lead to the crisis of 2008 since banks were open to the bulling by groups such as ACORN as they sought approval for the mergers needed to build the nationwide banking powerhouses.

Another thing not fixed by Dodd/Franks was that they did not separate the commercial banks from the investment banks. You would think that the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008 would have caused an honest, ethical, and sane person to reconsider the danger of combining the two types of banks. The failure of the system in 1929 and once again in 2008 should prove that the risk involved in such large organizations should be limited by limiting the scope of such failures. But since 2008 to today there are fewer banks. These banks now hold more money and are a greater danger to the security of the national banking system. By once again moving away from the too big to fail model and to smaller state based banking the Federal Government will have less say in the day to day operations of banks.

It is impossible to end all corruption, but the question remains on how we can limit the corruption in Washington and our state houses. The power and privilege of such offices presents too many temptations and a total lack of virtues, ethics, and morals seems to be the norm with many of the elder politicians. With the riches that many have amassed through various means it makes it difficult to remove many of the life time members. There is also the fact that many of those who are suspected of being corrupt have large monetary supporters outside of their districts and home states. There is also the problem of uninformed and corrupt individuals that support them. Another issue is that our elections have become the cloud of suspicion, due to the lack of voter verification imposed by the Democrat party. As long as our electoral system is suspect, then there is always the possibility that the American people no longer are in control of the nation. This truly means that the republic is dead.

I pray that it is not too late to save our nation. I see the TEA Party as a major movement that could reignite the understanding of our country and what makes it so special. My biggest fear is with the number of people who ignore and or ignorant of the dangers that face our nation. Those who are living off the corruption don’t want the people to understand or know the troubles the nation face as we go forward. They don’t want us to understand the dangers of the national debt to this generation and all of those who come after it. They tell us that they are going to fix the debt while continue to increase spending. They cut Medicare payments to shift it to a takeover of the healthcare system, and tell us that it is not a problem.

The system may be beyond salvaging but not the Constitution. We must look at our system and determine how to fix it. There have been changes to it that must be repaired. There must be an educational process to undo the lies told and the truth restored. Our founding fathers created the greatest nation on the planet. No system is perfect, but I do believe that ours is recoverable. We as a people must take back control from those who have set up a system designed to reward the powerful and privileged. As long as we have a government that places itself above the population we are no longer a nation of laws. By continuing down this road we are doomed to servitude to a tyrannical and imperial government.

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©2011 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Memo from Monday 11/21/11

OWS:
I hate to even write about the Organize Wall Street crowd. I think they have been given too much attention. This disorganized band of Socialists, Communists, Progressives, and assorted uninformed “useful idiots” have not been able to communicate a message that appeals to the 99% they claim to represent. They have however shown that they do speak for many elected Democrats and the Left Stream Media. This display of lawlessness and open display of ignorance of economics is scary. Seeing a bunch of poor spoiled rich kids and 50 something hippies with their iPhones and iPads demonstrating with a bunch of undercover multi-millionaire celebrities is frightening to see. It would be hilarious if not for the underlying message that it sends out to those who understand the danger. Instead of protesting against the crony capitalism that has been set up by the government, they are attacking the basis of our prosperity.

This nation is the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. Our poor are the richest poor people not only in the world, but in history. The whole idea of that the disparity between the rich and the poor is growing means nothing, as long as the wealth of the rich was obtained honestly. (More on that later.) Looking at those that demand the end of, not crony capitalism, but capitalism, and demanding socialism means that they would condemn all but the ruling class to perpetual poverty. Wealth throughout history has been rare and only in the hands of a few. Well today the average person in this country lives in luxury that has never occurred. Sure there are a few select people who live much better than the rest, but that has always been the way things have been. Taking away the wealth from a few of the wealthy is not going to improve the lives of anyone. It will only serve to increase the poverty of us all. You can never raise the boats in harbor by lowering the water level.

While the TEA Party represents the idea that we must return to the Constitution and that the Federal Government has overstepped the power granted to them, the OWS represents tyranny and totalitarianism. Those who organized and funded these socialistic demonstrations have their roots in the administration, ACORN, SEIU, and the Progressives in government. This is why they are blaming Wall Street and ignoring the policies of the Federal Government that not only allowed the corruption but encouraged it. The Cronyism that made millions for those who supported the subversion of our legal system and the slow destruction of the rights of the American people is based in Washington, not on Wall Street.

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Although the comparison to the TEA Party were made by many Progressives in an attempt to gain support for this new Progressive movement the reality is quite different. Unlike the claims of racism that were never supported, the OWS gang has demonstrated Anti-Semitism repeatedly. The entire OWS movement was an extension of the so-called Arab Spring. The demonstration with the underlying and overt racism and Anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish people overstep the bounds and shows that those supporting this so-called movement are hate-filled and does not represent the 99% of hardworking Americans who believe in the freedoms that made this country the greatest on Earth. Their hate for the nation and the average citizen shines through all of the glowing remarks presented by those in the media and government are making. Those supporting those who hate are no friend of the American people and should be shunned. The media continues to declare that all Republicans and members of the TEA Party are racist, with no evidence provided, continues. While ignoring OWS open racism only shows the hate that exists, not in the TEA Party, but in those who repeat this lie.

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Insider Traitors?:
For years I’ve heard that Washington DC was the crime capital of the nation. Well is seems that the real crimes have not been reported. Compelling evidence has been presented by Peter Schweizer and backed up by an episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes that the corruption in the US Congress is much more serious then many of us want to believe. For years many people have wondered how politician go into Government with few assets and leave worth millions. It seems that Mr. Schweizer has solved this “mystery.”

I’ve heard many reasons why Congress is exempt from the laws that they pass. One refers to English common law where in the early days of Parliamentary rule, members of Parliament would be arrested to prevent them from voting. This allowed the King or others members to affect the outcome of key votes and thus hold on to power. Another is similar but the motives are the same. It seems that our once “public servant” see themselves in Imperialist roles as not only above the laws that govern the nation, but above human ethics and morality that make for a safe, secure, and civil society.

Many of those who have sworn to protect the Constitution have been caught with their hand in the pockets of us all. They have not only exempted themselves from the law, but have placed themselves above the law. This proves proof that the nation is no longer governed by laws and equal justice, but is now a nation of individuals who are governed by their own rules of ethics and immorality.

It seems that members of Congress can use insider knowledge, that anyone else would be locked away for using, to manipulate the stock market, invest in land deals, and obtain political payoffs, via IPO stock options to enrich themselves and friends. Such use of insider information is illegal for everyone else, since it can cause major damage to the economy through the manipulation of stock prices. It also allows those in power to protect their investments, while destroying the value of those who are unaware of the privilege information.

This insider trading has been occurring for years. It has allowed many of those in power to preserve that power. It has also perpetuated the culture of cronyism and corruption that continues to rightly destroy the American people’s trust in our leadership in Washington. Looking back at Nancy Pelosi’s speech upon taking the leadership in the house when she said she was going to drain the swamp, I can only say that you can’t trust the alligators to do that job.

Watching the other hand - Fast and Furious:
While everyone was obsessing over the so-called debt ceiling crisis, few are really watching the real story of that week. The Democrats in Congress and the White House needed a crisis to cover the Fast and Furious hearings. It is interesting that this all came to a head the same week that the House started hears on the ATF. Just in case you haven't heard (which is not surprising to me) about F&F then hang on. Starting in 2009 the ATF started a "sting" called Fast and Furious. Under this program the ATF told gun dealers on the southern border state to sell weapons to suspected gunrunners. Thousands of guns were illegally set into the sovereign state of Mexico and into the hands of the drug cartels. The ATF has said that the purpose was to follow the guns and find out who was involved in the illegal operations. The truth seems to be something much more involved.
After all this time this story has not received the light of day that it deserves. While member of Congress and the Obama Administration were demanding stricter gun controls, it is discovered that the violence used to justify the proposed laws is not rooted in the law. The violence was part of an ATF plan to sell the weapons that caused the violence. There are those who say that there is no connection between the two. If you really believe that, then I can only believe you to be a fool.

Mission Accomplished:
Today it was announced that the “Super Committee” was unable to come to an agreement to cut the deficit. What else is there to say? Is anyone really surprised? How can you expect to put together the most entrenched and partisan members in Congress and expect anything other than disagreement? It can only be that the mission of this committee was to do nothing. There is no common ground between the two parties. The Democrats need issues to run on next year. The Republicans also must satisfy their base. But party is not as much a problem as ideology. The Progressive Socialists in both parties only want to increase their power at any cost. Their goal is to increase the power of Washington and destroy the freedoms that have made this country great. We must throw the Progressives in Congress and the White House out of power before they accomplish that final mission.

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©2011 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.