BAHL Revere Book Club

Torture?

Amazing Polly has a stunning video titled Is This Torture?

I highly recommend you take this in, as the governmental restrictions taking place with reagrd to the Coronavirus are not logical and are great cause for concern. She will give you more concern.

Edumacated

The Ghost of History

China Ghost City

The talking heads on the financial channels are blaming China for the recent downdraft in the stock market. China is a real problem; a ticking time bomb.  However, this is not new. They manipulate their numbers, and do not operate efficient markets based on supply and demand principles. China has several ghost cities, for crying out loud, which are well known and truly stunning.

It is the mess created by the US government, with complicit partners on Wall Street and in the mainstream media, that has placed America and her finances in peril.  Every decision that was made in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis was in error, and eroded liberty and freedom for all. Once such action was extending the unemployment coverage for longer periods of time. As famed author Art Laffer once quipped, "when you people not to work, don't be surprised if get a lot of people not working." Got it.

Speaking of the job market, investors hope a strong jobs number Friday morning will held turn the market tide.  But that is a manipulated number as well, as it captures only those who have recently sought full employment, not the high number of those who have given up.  In fact, if the job market was improving, you would see a slight increase in the unemployment rate, as more individuals would enter the capsule of those actively seeking work. The most accurate indicator of the job market can be found in the labor participation rate, painting a dismal snapshot in time sunk at level not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter over 35 years ago.

It is noted that it is most difficult to find any market indicator not flashing a high level of caution. The following excerpt from an excellent piece from Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform, "Corporate profits are plunging. Labor participation continues to fall. A global recession is in progress. The strong U.S. dollar is crushing exports and profits of international corporations. Real household income remains stagnant, while healthcare, rent, home prices, education, and a myriad of other daily living expenses relentlessly rises. The world is a powder keg, with tensions rising ever higher in the Middle East, Ukraine, Europe, and China."

The experts always claim this time it is different; nothing but financial folly. As noted in the piece, "The reckless herd has been in control for the last few years, but their recklessness is going to get them slaughtered. The lessons of history scream for caution at this moment in time, not recklessness." True.

We warned about the economy and capital market months ago, and our position has not changed. Once again, this time isn't different.

The ghosts know.

 Please see  THIS TIME ISN'T DIFFERENT by Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform.

Deal of the Century

Utilizing the brilliance of the editorial cartoons of Investors Business Daily's Michael Ramirez, a summarization of the Iran nuclear deal is presented in far greater eloquence and brevity than I could muster.

Obviously, I cannot stand President Obama, finding him an arrogant, bitter, spiteful and racist individual; down right evil at times and an opponent of America as founded. But make no mistake, Obama is not an idiot nor does he not know what he is doing.

Rather, he is an intelligent ideologue who fields off what limited questions of relevancy he receives as illegitimate, supported by a complicit and propagandist mainstream media who move the subject away with swiftness, discrediting opponents in orchestration. That is great work if you can get it, and astonishingly, he's got it.

However, if the synopsis presented by Martin Armstrong has merit, it would explain quite a bit. As Armstrong accurately states, "Whenever there is some political deal, it is NEVER what they present to the public with such magnanimous fanfare. There is always a hidden agenda".

No doubt!

However, to consider that Obama has turned the middle east upside down and reached out to both Cuba and Iran to squeeze Russia, drawing Russia closer to China is quite a reach. If it is what is at play, it is a enormously dangerous gamble, one with a loss that could catapult the United States to the "ash heap of history" Reagan described.

It is noted, however, that according to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer says China is collapsing, noting their upcoming crash as "way bigger than subprime".  Russia is also under duress, with reports of coup d'état activities in recent months.

Caliphate is the real objective.  Obama does not hold America in high regard, and wishes to establish a caliphate in the middle east, a Greater Syria if you will, similar to the old Ottoman Empire.  It would appear Obama seeks Iran to be host country, as a Muslim nation rises to superpower status while America is weakened from within in orchestrated fashion by a president gone rogue.

ISIS is doing the dirty work of cleansing, and out enemy within is now assisting in the development of a nuclear weapon for Iran and financing through Iran terrorist groups like HAMAS and Hezbollah.

The United States was placed in great peril with this deal, and future citizens will die due to this utterly despicable and irresponsible act by a brazen president acting outside or historical avenues of legislation.  The Congress, which has allowed his reckless behavior, should also bear responsibility.

Elections have consequences, and with the presidential election of 2012, those consequences will be deadly for future generations,  In fact, this could unravel so quickly, it might by you and I fully engaged before the next generation gets the chance.

With this action of aiding and abetting the enemy, coupled with the endangerment of the American people, treason is charged and once again, I call for the immediate impeachment of President Obama.

Catastrophic Consequences

As Ronald Reagan so eloquently quipped, "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just they know so much that isn't so".

A prime example of this can be seen in the following comments from President Obama earlier this week:

 

Obama is a fraud and speaks daily of things and accomplishments that are not so, but this takes the honors in being the biggest crock of crap he has ever spit out. Want evidence he is delusional?

Beyond Russia seizing territory and China building islands, see ISIS running roughshod across the middle east with not a care in the world regarding the consequences. Oh, that's right, since Obama is on their side, they will be heralded for hastening the caliphate and won't be facing any consequences.

The catastrophic consequences will be saved for those who seek a strong America, thanks to Obama's most unfortunate election.

Salvation of the State

 

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives." --James Madison, 1822

The world is on fire; without question.  The list of items headlining media outlets of truth are mind boggling to be sure.  Among the long very long list of worrisome items for the citizenry to absorb are the following:

* The US National Debt grew more than a trillion dollars last year, and is now at approximately 18 trillion.  This is just the number released by the government, with the actual number far exceeding this amount. The debt could never be repaid without extensive monetary operations, which cannot be effectively engaged upon with the horrendous economy we currently have.  Monetizing the debt, currently underway, is only postponing the real pain.

* The economic woes in China are deepening, with the government initiating a "stealth QE" to combat a liquidity crisis.  If you think their woes would not have an affect on our economy, you are mistaken.

* The number of Americans on food stamps has eclipsed 46 million, which is approximately 15% of the total population.  There are long term issues resulting from potential workers remaining out of the workforce, on the public dole, for an extended period of time if one seeks a fully employed population.

* The unemployment rate is reported to be decreasing, signaling good economic conditions.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The administration changed the calculations on how the number is figured for starters, and have been counting part time workers within the number.  The real unemployment rate is in the low teens, and has been for several years, the longest such period of grief since The Great Depression.

* The Russian Bear is growling, with Russia flexing muscle by invading sovereign nations, causing a major disturbance in the Ukraine and creating plenty of economic concerns involving our dollar as we try to implement sanctions on them. Of course, there is no plan or policy formatted to deal with the issue, so we are forced to react to the hand Vladimir Putin deals us.  Some reset?

* A Malasyian Boeing jetliner which vanished from the sky in March remains unaccounted for, and nobody seems to care.  The media has moved on, and so have the public.

*The southern border remains wide open by design, with the Obama administration orchestrating the rush of tens of thousands of folks, inclusive of children, to enter the country through the border. An effort to share the wealth and create large numbers of citizens dependent on governmental assistance, this action was essentially an immigration reform bill which bypassed a vote in Congress.  Nice trick by the progressives without the knowledge of the majority of voters, except among those lovely children entering the US through the southern border were untold numbers of terrorists, who may have been trafficking various forms of lethal weaponry.

James Madison was quite correct.  Bureaucrats in Washington, some who are adverse to the principles which were central to the founders, are governing, and transforming, America right under the nose of those among the citizenry who Aldous Huxley noted would be drunk on a sea of irrelevance.  If in doubt, please the following segment from "The O'Reilly Factor", where correspondent Jesse Watters invites college students to enter his, or our, world.

America is in real trouble.  Remember those famous words from the inaugural address by President John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?"  There is a responsibility that comes with being a citizen of this great country, and it requires more than keeping up to date with pop culture, obtaining any and every entitlement available and adopting nihilism as a philosophical doctrine.

 

As Madison accurately noted, our citizenry must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives, to help ensure the future not only for ourselves, but our children and grandchildren.  After all, as the inscription above the main entrance to Nebraska's beautiful State Capitol reads: "The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen."

State Your Piece

I recall vividly the events of this time, prior to a presidential election in 2008, where capital markets were rocked in alarming fashion.  Amid all the chaos, seemingly orchestrated, rang out the proclamations of a US Representative noting an electronic run on the banks questioning an attack of economic terrorism.

On this day, along with factual evidence of the wreckage of a collapse in value of bundled mortgages as a result of a crashing housing market, conspiracies abound on the causes on the actual influence which took the market from an aftershock downdraft of a bubble to something potentially far worse.

What had actually happened remains in question.  Did a series of mutually exclusive events occur in random as part of a what could be considered a perfect storm?  Was it infiltration from within, attempting to influence the election?

In recent months, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson recently confirmed what many has long speculated, which was there was orchestrated efforts to collapse our economic system, with only the level of teamwork remaining in question. Russia and China collaborated on potential plan to destroy the US dollar.

The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see – Ayn Rand.

Its the Euro theatre.

While our President is seemingly disengaged from the world (he is NOT), the world is on fire.  The middle east is in complete chaos, Israel is engaged in an offensive to preserve liberty for their people against HAMAS, a militant terrorist group and proxy militia of Iran, who just gets closer and closer to nuclear weapon everyday amidst all the distraction. Perhaps a reflection on the definition of the flexibility Obama described to Russian PM Medvedev would be appropriate.

Recently, Russia and China have been reported to have signed a historic gas pipeline mega deal, which could have severe economic ramifications on the US capital markets, perhaps phasing out the dollar.

After a tussle with Georgia a few years back, since the conclusion of the Olympics, Vladmir Putin and Russia have been flexing their muscles, engaging in invasive military strikes against their neighbors in the Ukraine.  With the west in a weakened position, seemingly by design, the opposition to the activities of Russia goes unabated, even in the aftermath of the shooting down of a commercial passenger airline. 

You may think China is watching all this with a bucket of buttered popcorn and a Coca Cola, but you would be wrong.

China has been reported to have increased and expanded naval drills in areas off the coast of Vietnam and the Philippines. China has been building its naval forces for years now, and has been found to have been lurking around America and our outposts around the world, inclusive of Taiwan and Japan.

China is pretending to be a diplomatic ally of the west even as it is actively engaging in trade pacts with Russia and subverting US military influence around its borders, and especially in regions it deems of vital national interest--Tyler Durden/Zero Hedge.

Kevin Freeman, in his book "Secret Weapon", examines the evidence linking rogue elements in Communist China, Russia, and Islamic finance to economic warfare against the United States.

Ominous warnings are everywhere, yielding appropriate concerns of The United States being on the precipice of an event, which could range from economic terrorism to the potential of another terrorist attack.  It is worth noting, the latter could well initiate the former.

From John Kerry and his meeting with the opponents of Israel to President Obama's inability or unwillingness to curtail the brazen encroachment of Russia, it seems clear our leadership is not going to be much help in deterring our enemies from attacking us in various forms.

In fact, it remains unclear which side these charlatans are actually on, as they're actions are not representative of our people.

While foreign affairs are screwing us rotten
Line morale has hit rock bottom
Dying embers stand forgotten
Talks of peace were being trodden
Stand or fall
State your peace tonight

Is There Gold In The Hills

Procuring physical gold seems to be a rather problematic and time-consuming process.

While most of America was fully immersed in the Christmas holiday, Glenn Beck and his team noted a troubling story presented on the fantastic financial website Zero Hedge.

The story centers around a request from the German government to repatriate portions of their gold reserves held in America by The FED.  There are many tentacles to this story, which would leave many of my readers deep in the weeds, but the story itself from Zero Hedge offers a strong overview of the situation, complete with opportunities to seek additional depth on the story.  Please see the Zero Hedge blogpost HERE.

There are seemingly logical reasons for the retrieval of physical gold to issue plagued.  Perhaps foremost on the list is covered at the end of the Zero Hedge piece, in that China and India are hoarding physical gold.  An overview of the reasons behind this demand shines a spotlight on the real elephant in the room.

Meet the theory of hypothecation.

David Buckner joined Glenn Beck back a year or so ago to effort to explain hypothecation in what most would consider English. Please take a listen:



In reflecting on the Christmas season, the wonderful Frank Capra movie Its A Wonderful Life comes to mind when attempting to provide a basic overview of hypothecation.

The Bailey Building and Loan Association, of which the central character George Bailey was the president, engaged in mortgage lending, lending out portions of monetary deposits to qualified buyers in an affordable housing project.  Provided the association retained proper reserve requirements without commingling funds, this was a quite ordinary and profitable enterprise for such a loan association.  Failure to adhere to regulatory banking laws would appropriately lead to fraud likely commensurate with incarceration upon conviction.

Enter The Federal Reserve.  The FED, as the holder of the physical gold, may lend to banks, and others, utilizing the gold as collateral, provided the depositors have consented to such an agreement.  An agreement in this regard would certainly have reserve requirements, although the FED, not being a public company and a quasi-governmental firm, has no regulatory requirement to publicly release terms of such agreements or asset balances.

Back to the request by Germany to obtain portions of their physical gold deposits from The FED.  The Zero Hedge piece noted the agreed upon amount of the first batch to be delivered was short, and Germany noted it was not the same gold initially deposited, as it was marked.

Why was did The FED short the batch size, and why were the gold bars not the original ones deposited?  Glenn Beck asks some legitimate questions about the batch and potential reasons for the alteration of the originally deposited gold bars, and the conclusions drawn are hair on fire troubling.





Has The FED deviated from common banking guidelines with respect to collateral requirements of gold reserves?  Does The FED actually possess the physical gold?  Are adequate reserves in place to accommodate the subsequent levels of hypothecation?

Where would these reserves be if not in the possession of The FED.  The financial crisis of 2008 was the greatest theft in history, and we still wonder who got all the loot.

If the gold is not possessed by The FED, given gold the position gold holds as the cornerstone of finance, the result would be catastrophic for everyone, and global collapse would be imminent.

Even Mr. Drysdale won't be able to fix this.

Bailout Bull

Pontiac GXP

Few have been bigger supporters of General Motors over the years than yours truly. I have driven Chevrolet SUVs for decades and have had a racy Pontiac ever since I got my drivers license. The products have been outstanding, and I have until recently been a longtime cheerleader for Chevrolet and Pontiac over the years.

But my relationship with GM has soured considerably due to their relationship with President Obama, under whose direction came the closure of the Pontiac division.  Obama and GM are joined at the hip with the unions, not the shareholders, the benefactor of the bailout.

Regrettably, it was President Bush who got the ball running on the auto bailout. Chrysler, which took the bailout, is now owned by Fiat.  Ford, (F:NYSE), did not accept bailout money and is doing fine.

Under the bailout, President Obama did not follow protocol and left the preferred shareholders with nothing while funneling cash to the unions.  Obama's team punished dealerships who were republican donors while keeping open those who donated to Democrats.  With GM under foot, Obama forced them to focus on developing vehicles designed to accommodate green energy sources, rather than seeking a profit producing vehicles the market wants.

The auto bailout has become a significant topic of discussion during the campaign, and its very relevant in Michigan and the key swing state of Ohio.  Although the facts differ from the rhetoric President Obama has been delivering on the campaign trail, the issue has been favorable to Obama rather than Mitt Romney, whose father George Romney was formerly chairman and president of American Motors Corporation.

Obama touts General Motors (GM:NYSE) as bailed out and saved, but the stock price of GM would have to moue than double for the company to stand on its own with the taxpayers to be made whole.

There are many more troubling facts that those in Ohio, and across the nation, are likely not aware of.  Glenn Beck did an outstanding job covering the topic recently on his radio program.  This is important, so please take the time to listen in the entirety.



Sadly, the campaign rhetoric Obama is soaring with, on both the fronts of GM being solvent and who is actually shifting jobs to China, is alarmingly false. 

On the campaign stump recently, Obama says we know him, and can trust him.  Indeed, we know him as a liar on numerous issues and note we can always trust him to be not trustworthy.

Land of the LOST

Captain Sleestak

Sometimes a quick whip around the events of the day make you wonder if you may have been kidnapped and went through a worm hole.  This, of course, providing you are consuming news from most of the biased mainstream outlets.

If you seek the truth through alternative news media outlets who do not subscribe to he national narrative, when your eyes opened you may have thought you found yourself in the Land of the Lost being preached to by Captain Sleestak.

Among the stories you may have came across recently is a very troubling potential treaty called The Law of the Sea Treaty, or LOST.  The treaty, somewhat complicated considering the tentacles associated with it, is extremely ominous and could ultimately cause the demise of the sovereignty of the United States.

Investors Business Daily, a true leader in presenting the truth through their outstanding editorial page, reported the treaty establishes an International Seabed Authority with the power to regulate 70% of the earths surface.  Inclusive in the this would be ocean fishing, mining and deep sea oil and gas exploration at the minimum.  Military activities by the Navy and NASA could be negatively impacted as well.

As IBD Reported, Mike Browfield of The Heritage Foundation noted "One of the more nefarious and insidious of its provisions is Article 82, which requires the U.S. to forfeit royalties generated from oil and gas development on the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles — an area known as the 'extended continental shelf.'"

Dick Morris, who sounds the alarm on LOST in his new book Screwed, give us the horrid details in a lunch alert last Wednesday.  Take a listen:




Enemies from within, including many familiar names such as John Kerry, John McCain, Leon Panetta. Hillary Clinton and President Obama, are working to limit the sovereignty of the United States giving control mechanisms to the United Nations.

The LOST Treaty is one of many tentacles operating in this regard with the transformation of wealth the centerpiece of global governance.  Agenda 21 and Global Warming, a complete fraud, are utilized globally to transfer wealth, of mostly Americans, through taxation and regulation.  Green programs have extensive, and expensive, tentacles infiltrating American lives through governmental agencies like the EPA and the FDA.

The Responsibility to Protect is another avenue, allowing the UN to actively engage oppressive regimes in an effort to protect those they deem in danger.  Forget that the UN is usually an opponent of Uncle Sam in military initiatives, but the folks behind this effort are fierce opponents of Israel. Will they be on the wrong side should an Israel and Iranian altercation commence?  But does this extend beyond military operations?  Could those deemed polluters be targeted for compliance?

Jumping the shark could take us to governance over satellites in space, or food consumption and farming, or even population control perhaps subscribing to the one child policy of China.  Some very big names appear to be on board regarding population control globally in an effort to control global warming.

Our teleprompter in chief, an individual who thinks America has always been an oppressor, aims to transform our divinely inspired country, changing our traditions and history, robbing it of its exceptionalism. 

If we don't defeat these folks, Obama will fulfill the dream from his father by taking down Uncle Sam and placing the power and governance in the hands of the United Nations, an organization which could establish a worldwide socialist utopia Captain Sleestak and his arrogance could rule over for many moons to come.  The United States could become a land of the lost.

As IBD ever so accurately concluded,  LOST would be an incalculable loss of wealth and sovereignty. Those who wish to plunder our wealth and neuter our power should be told to get lost.

Inside Outside Upside Down

In my daily whip around the world wide web in search of credible information, I usually make a stop by The Drudge Report. In recent days, some of the stories I came across there echo what I feel in my gut, that the world has practically turned inside, outside, upside down.

Presented below are a handful of recent stories with some short commentary on each.

China downgrades US as our economic situation continues to worsen. China is not innocent in destabilizing trade and currency manipulation, but given they hold so much of our debt, we are in a pickle. Hopefully, we learned from The Great Depression that protectionism is not a prudent avenue to travel, but given our recent actions we have not. Not only are we engaging in dangerous trade policies, we are manipulating our own currency.

It appears there is an Orderly Decline of the Dollar taking place. Central to sound economics, and a pillar of the Reagan Revolution, is a strong dollar. With The FED exhausting the printing press, it would seem that our debt is being monetized, decreasing the value of the dollar, which is quite dangerous. Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros, who Glenn Beck is accurately exposing this week, has called for global governance. Soros, who has crashed foreign currencies and is noted as the man who broke The Bank of England, controls through media operations and financial positions much of the progressive agenda wrecking our sovereignty. Through an orderly decline of the dollar, Soros and his agents can remove monetary power of the single largest obstacle to global governance, which is the free market capitalists of The United States of America. This is quite alarming, and even The Maestro, former FED Chair Alan Greenspan, is concerned.

Off the west coast, low and behold, we find Unidentified Flying Missiles. After decades of being spooked by the potential existence of spaceships and aliens, nobody seems the slightest bit alarmed that the apparent missile launch cannot, at least publicly, be explained by any US military or governmental official. Surely, with all the high level security we got over at Area 51, we can come up with something plausible. It seems the public thinks this is no big deal. Maybe Big Foot water skiing on Lake Tahoe would do it, but given the American Idiot society we live in these days, maybe not. Then again, what is this firestreak across the NYC skyline?

Obama Slams Israel yet again, which is the opposite position of every President of my lifetime. It boggles the mind how this guy got elected, but I can assure you the greater majority of the US citizenry does not concur with his repeated Israel bashing. Nor do we appreciate his continuing assault on America from foreign soil. Back in the day, this would not be tolerated, and should not be now.

Government Elites Living Large during high level meeting to discuss fraud in the stimulus package. The whole thing is a fraud, and the administration going around pontificating about the several million jobs they saved or created is nothing short of lying to the American people. This erroneous rhetoric raises my already elevated blood pressure. Since when do we tolerate our President lying to our face in discussion of his stimulus package, and then, having his administration slap us upside the face by having lavish meetings to investigate fraud in the package. I recognized the fraud the day it was announced.

A Stranded Ship Although I have always been a boater and have been offshore in my own boat on many occasions, I have always been inclined to steer clear of the cruise ships. Perhaps it is a control thing, who knows. Warnings after 9-11 about terrorists potentially unleashing some sort of deadly virus aboard one further extended my apprehension. I now read of a Carnival cruise ship floating powerless in the Pacific due to an engine fire, creating less than favorable conditions aboard while waiting rescue. No doubt, an odd turn of events which one would not wish to be part of. On top of that, the beer was warm.

Obama AWOL on Veterans as he barely recognized the heart and soul of our great nation, our Veterans, on Veterans day. The sacrifices made by our Veterans go far beyond what any words can describe, but one word I never hear from President Obama, is victory, Our country exists today because our Veterans were victorious. Today, Hail to the Victors! My heartfelt thanks and may God Bless You All!


There are many very puzzling things going on these days, so much so it seems that life has turned inside, outside and upside down. I conclude the worst is not behind us yet, so adhere to the principles of your faith, the founding fathers and free market capitalism to weather the storm.

Vote to Change The Future!

When folks are unchallenged and awarded for average performance, the path to greatness is handicapped. When individuals fail to reach for uncharted achievement, out society is the loser. An ill-informed society, one given benefits without earning anything, leads to a myriad of bad things. As an example, please see the following:



With idiots like this running around, considering themselves informed and hitting the voting booth, it is no wonder our government thinks they should dictate our every affair. Even though, obviously, many Americans are failing miserably in their responsibilities as citizens to educate themselves on how our government functions and to gain a command on the issues, government should not expand control over our citizenry. With our elected representatives disrespecting the electorate, due to horrendous policies being implemented by the ruling class, in their arrogance, our future is on the verge of being very bleak:



Ronald Reagan, in his Time for Choosing speech, summed up the election before us here today. "This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

Samuel Adams once said "If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."

The time of choosing is upon us. It is time for the experienced patriots Adams spoke of to stand up, for if we are not careful, the far distant capital Reagan refers to will not be in Washington.

Regrettable Retracement

In an eye opening editorial in The Wall Street Journal, Trend Macro's Chief Investment Officer Don Luskin writes of unfortunate similarities between The Great Depression and today. Luskin examines the current governmental policies which mirror those of Franklin Roosevelt and the technical analysis of the stock market, which if correct, signals a precipitous fall coming soon. Take a look at the chart below created by Trend Macrolytics:

The article was the central topic of discussion Monday evening on CNBC's The Kudlow Report with Larry Kudlow. Seemingly sane Democratic strategist Mark Walsh and outstanding former Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Chairman and talk show host Herman Cain joined Luskin to attempt to sound the alarm about the road our leaders have us traveling. Take a listen:

Luskin has it right in his article. The subject is one Amity Shlaes covered thoroughly in her outstanding book "The Forgotten Man", a read I highly encourage.

The recent action taken to potentially curb trading practices based upon how countries dictate currency levels, which as Luskin correctly points out is directed at China and their manipulation of the yuan, resembles the protectionary efforts made by Smoot Hawley, which were devastating.

Also, raising taxes in this environment can only be thought prudent by a Cloward-Piven follower, or a strong Progressive seeking government intervention and a retarding of the capitalist system. While many think the government is best equipped to assist the people, we are reminded of the words the great Ronald Reagan, "Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives".

As discussed on The Kudlow Report, class warfare is being used as an economic vehicle to move the country closer to socialism. Regrettably, while the Obama administration is enacting similar policies to Roosevelt, we will likely see similar results as we are retracing the DOW before a monumental drop during The Great Depression.

This is an unnecessary risk that could have catastrophic implications. With respect to the stock market, Luskin is not a technical analyst. I am, and it looks to me that history is repeating itself all over the place. Look out!

Domestic Oil Drilling Not Aboard Shell Game Porkulus Package

The Obama administration is in its infancy but we are already learning many negative policy positions. One such position has to do with our energy policies.

The Obama administration indicates they are anti domestic fossil fuel and appear much to cozy to alternative energy options, regardless of costs. What this means to you is that the extreme oil prices we suffered through last summer will return again, in spades. The time is now to drill, baby, drill, but it looks like we won't be doing that.

BAHL's Blog welcomes our first guest commentary on this subject. The Wizard speaks:

Currently, renewable fuels like ethanol, wind, solar and water account for about 6% of the country's energy usage. Sounds promising right? Obama says he wants to double our output in renewable fuels. OK, sounds good.

Here's the problem...Although 6% of U.S. energy usage comes from renewable sources, nearly half of that comes from large-scale hydroelectric projects that have little growth potential. Most of the rest comes from ethanol, (which is now as predicted, turning out to be a disaster for the environment and takes more energy to produce than it can ever yield) and other so-called biomass fuels which are equally less yielding. If all of our current farm land in the U.S. were immediately converted to growing switch grasses, corn based ethanol, wood chips, and whatever other phony bio-fuel you can come up with, you can only just keep up with increasing demand. Not to mention we would have to import ALL of our food. And of course much less water for you and me.

Wind and solar right now account for less than 1% of our energy usage. Doubling that output is a given seeing that the government is going to pay for it, regardless of effectiveness. This is in line with creating or saving 3.5 million jobs at a cost of $275,000 per job. 20% of the nations electricity needs are currently accounted for with nuclear energy. We have 104 operating plants in the U.S. If we were to bring that number up to where France is, 75%, you could make a dent in our oil consumption. Unfortunately, despite our incredible record of zero nuclear related deaths in the U.S., the Obama admin. says it is as of yet not clean or safe enough.

The Energy department says we have enough coal and natural gas deposits available today to meet our electricity needs for more than 100 years! We also have some of the largest untapped oil reserves anywhere on planet earth both in Alaska and the Gulf and off the California coast. Forget about shale. We don't need to drill on land. THE WIZARD TOOK THIS PHOTO FROM THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR LAST MONTH

You might think that somewhere in this Porculus calamity there would be something for taking advantage of our incredible fossil fuel resources or for nuclear production. Not so much as $1. Obama is drawing a line in the sand and deliberately shunning our natural resources or he believes that we can replace 20,000,000 barrels of crude per day with renewables and alternatives.

Combine this administrations wanton dislike for all things fossil fuel, and add to that the fact that no new refining facilities are being built and you may see a potential problem. It is possible that we will use so much less oil, think Iran, Venezuela, Russia, due to neglect and socialist policies that thwart any real productivity, that we won't need those 20,000,000 barrels. Maybe this is there plan?

We now have succeeded in giving China a huge ace to play where our finances are concerned and we will continue to give untold leverage to the world of Islam and Hugo Chavez and Vlad Putin where our energy needs are concerned. The final strike will no doubt be our continued policy of letting Iran inch ever closer to obtaining the ability to produce and export their military nuclear ambitions.

This all seems risky to me. We are heeping on pile after pile of negative variables that need not be. It almost appears calculated that a country could make so many bad decisions. It's as if we opened our huge southern border and invited anyone who could walk across to come on in and enjoy the party!

If BHO can succeed ( $2 billion for ACORN in the Porculus)( along with our massive new welfare spending) in getting these folks to somehow vote, he will get his eight years regardless of how our economy or our energy or our foreign policy works out.This is nothing new. It has been tried many times before. It's zenith and heyday during the 20th century. Quick, name 1 success story? No? It's a trick question.

Many thanks to The Wizard for his commentary. With this kind of nonsense going on the future economic and geopolitical climate seems quite risky, which hinders investment. Investment is the mothers milk of economic growth, so you get the point.