Farm Animals

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.~Benjamin Franklin

Don't discount Ole Ben, perhaps the most brilliant American who ever traveled the fruited plain.

In recent history, at the forefront of this discussion is the Patriot Act, passed in bipartisan fashion in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001.

Regrettably, I was one who was not initially significantly alarmed by this, for it appeared to me winning the Global War on Terror was critical, with the catastrophic possibility of nuclear weapons being unleashed at or in America. Efforts to combat our enemies, both foreign and domestic, seemingly would require steps beyond historical avenues of attack. I was all in.

Central among the additional avenues of intercept would be traffic utilizing the new world horizon of the Internet. The ability to institute keen surveillance over this forum would allow our military to be preemptive to attacks through monitoring the global terrorists. The advantages sounded great, but with the collapsed buildings in lower Manhattan still simmering, we forgot the keen insight of Benjamin Franklin.

In a sensible effort to obtain temporary safety, we relinquished some level of liberty. Even so, is this as bad as it may seem?

In the spirit of Ole Ben, let us recall some rather recent files in our memory bank. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky will clue you in. Take a listen:



Written in 1949, George Orwell's novel 1984 chronicled what expansive big government control over the masses might look like in a dreary sort of way.  Like most who have read the book, it seemed outlandish, something really not possible in America, home of the free and the brave.

Among the tenants highlighted in the novel were public mind control, government surveillance, collectivism persecuting individualism and perpetual war. Don't look now, but 2012 looks quite like 1984.

Regrettably, many Americans who have read the book fail to recognize what is right in front of them; a presidential administration aiming to create a culture of dependency among the society allowing entry levels of tyranny to be implemented. Under this implementation, advertised with a complicit media, the complacent public is being hoodwinked as the erosion of liberty escalates.

The Patriot Act, if memory serves me correctly, was to be a temporary measure to be re-visited annually by the Senate.  Although President Obama has declared the war on terror over, erroneously I might add, the Patriot Act continues. It is worth noting that a majority warrants issued under the Patriot Act have little or no association with terrorism.

Unfortunately, the Patriot Act is far from the only thing our citizenry must be concerned with respect to big government surveillance. As Judge Andrew Napolitano points out, the Senate is currently considering further and stunning invasions of our privacy.  Major private companies and government agencies track each and every key stroke while you are on their dime, but for the government to seeking intrusive measures on the American people.  As the Judge noted, this would be an attack against Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

Obviously, we are not in "1984", but sadly, our American time capsule is traveling in this direction at increasing speed, by design, driven by governmental elites who in their arrogance think they make superior collective decisions than the individual and independent thought.  Tyranny over liberty.

Sadly, the lemmings re-elected President Obama, buying his false narratives and hearing his words rather than taking the time to evaluate his actions and noting the deception.  History is re-writing itself, and although we thought many of our citizens had recognized Obama and his big government collective policies were wrong for America, we were wrong.

It is imperative now, more than ever, we present the facts and illustrative real world case studies on what is happening under this oppressive regime.  Orwell's 1984 provides us a snapshot into that world, which represents most everything the founders of our country fought against.  If we fail, we will all be living in 1984, and we will be unable to summon Crockett and Tubbs for help.

Constitutional Destruction

A few years back, fearful of what many knew but so few could see, Jon McNaughton began a assemblage of a striking and magnificent painting, which constructs the picture in summation of how this country has gotten to a point where transformation from our founding principles could take place. Please see the following video:



In recent weeks, seemingly in desperation although his arrogance would suggest otherwise, President Obama has attacked anybody and everybody, save the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama attacked the Catholic Church, oil companies and has verbally assaulted many of the precious pillars of our government. With the media complicit in his back pocket, Obama has hammered Congress in slamming Rep. Ryan (R:WI) and his efforts at avoiding a catastrophic debt crisis and the blatant verbal intimidation of the Supreme Court of the United States.

There is complete disregard for the check and balances our system has built in. When the President fails to achieve goals legislatively, his unelected Czars implement policy through organizations like the EPA and HHS, where the actions operate without close scrutiny and proper accountability. Governing against the will of the people, Obama used every trick and bribe imaginable to pass Obamacare, which with the individual mandate is unconstitutional.


President Obama has declared that he finds the Constitution an imperfect document, because it limits what the government can do rather than what the government should and could do. Thank God for that, or else charlatans like Obama could wreck the country.

While hints of an imperial presidency have been swirling for some time, the attack on the SCOTUS has raised many an eyebrow, with with the Investors Business Daily editorial page hammering him and Judge Andrew Napolitano suggesting we are close to totalitarianism in a recent FOX News interview.



Massive government spending is placing smothering debt on this nation which is unsustainable and will lead to a crash of the economic system. Quantitative easing is destroying wealth, and high regulation and taxation and is handicapping growth. Civil unrest is being stoked by the administration along with attempts to discredit each of our pillars of founding governance. Contract law has been broken, most recently during the MF Global default.

Quite frankly, I am astonished more people fail to recognize the overwhelming evidence that our President is not acting under the Constitution he swore to uphold. In fact, he is working to undermine it, and replace it molded to his hearts content. As he has stated, it is an imperfect document in his eyes, and through appointing Supreme Court Judges who share his disdain for it and by circumventing Congress and legislative oversight, we have on our hands a very dangerous and arrogant man who given another term could alter our history forever.

As is stands now, we are one Supreme Court Judges appointment away from being nothing short of Venezuela. By the way, contrary to media reports, they do not hold free elections there, so rather than a representative republic, we would have on our hands a dictatorship. Benjamin Franklin said the founders gave us a republic, if we can keep it. The moment is ciritical, and this is our responsibility; therefore, Obama simply MUST be defeated.

Out With The Bathwater

Last year, FOX Business Network ended their 5 PM show "Happy Hour", for a new show with Gerri Willis, who came over from CNN. The new show is not bad, but I find it much inferior to Happy Hour. Then again, who could compete with Glenn Beck over at FOX?

Now comes word that the entire primetime lineup at FOX Business will get the axe. Not a good move in my estimation.

Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano was a very good show. Now, it should be noted this show was in competition with The O'Reilly Factor over on FOX, the top rated cable news show by far. Freedom Watch did need some tweaking, and I was getting very tired of the Judge promoting Ron Paul for President. Overall, however, Napolitano asked intriguing questions of top guests from the political and financial world. This show will be missed, at least by me.

David Asman is very professional and at the top of his game. His current show Power and Money, which evolved from America's Nightly Scoreboard, was very good and often dove into off the mainstream topics, with Agenda 21 being an example. Hannity, over on the flagship FOX, is king of 9PM, but this show worked well and I will miss it as well.

Eric Bolling is outstanding, and his show Follow The Money, had a real chance to overtake On The Record with Greta Van Susteren over on the Flagship. FTM had the big screen here at my humble abode, but the show could have used some tweaking as well. The decisions by the FOX brass to include wacko socialists as nightly panelists on FTM, like the newly hired Sally Kohn and Jehmu Green, hurt. Nobody with a brain has any care about the opinions of these Obama apologists. Anyhow, Bolling is a star and this news is most disappointing. At least Bolling falls back to focusing on The Five over on FOX, a real hit.

Melissa Francis, who jumped off the sinking ship at CNBC to come over to FBN, is slated for a 5PM show, while Gerry Willis will move to 8PM. While Francis is talented, I hope the executives at FBM are not counting on a ratings increase, because it will not be forthcoming with these moves.









Lori Rothman and Charles Payne

If FBN, is going a different direction, they should immediately launch a financial show hosted by grossly under utilized Charles Payne, and a crossover show with the lovely Kimberly Guilfoyle. Business babes Tracy Byrnes and Lori Rothman are also under utilized, but what do I know?

I know I will miss each of these programs and do not have any excitement about the changes.

Market Trick

Halloween was not kind on the corner of Wall and Broad today, and with good reason.

While traders were receiving treats last week from the news of a Euro fix, it really is nothing short of a trick. We have been down this road before, and we will go down it again, and as we pass each exit for a real fix, the pain forthcoming gets deeper.

FOX Business' Judge Andrew Napolitano speaks with Nigel Farage, who has been on this story from the get go. Take a listen:



As traders woke up to learn of the impending blowup of MF Global, headed by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, they found the futures in the negative. It should not have come as a surprise that Corzine, who blew an 8 billion dollar hole in New Jersey Chris Christie is now cleaning up, would fail miserably at MF Global. Fail at running the company yes, but apparently not in securing cash for himself, typical for Democrats in these positions. To think as recently as August Corzine was being considered by President Obama as a the new Treasury Secretary should indicate the level of complete incompetence leading this country.

This evening, Clusterstock reports of "hundreds of millions of dollars missing", which cannot be good for the markets, propped up by false fundamentals and already spooked by a myriad of issues, including on the domestic side a continuous mortgage meltdown.

But further concerns over the supposed Euro fix is what really what spooked the markets. Good money is being put after bad, bailing out entitlement expenditures which cannot, and should not, be sustained. As Farage put it years ago, the fixes won't work and we can only hope the markets derail this before things get really bad, as if they have not already.

Restated; they will soon run out of everyone else's money. Invest accordingly.

Dictator in Chief

Michele Bachmann claims Obama is a one term President. Sarah Palin called Obama a lame duck President. One thing is for sure, the negotiations surrounding the debt crisis has brought out the worst in President Obama, and his poll numbers are diving. While the President is in serious trouble and it may seem his presidency is becoming irrelevant, I fear this administration bears watching like never before.

President Obama claimed his intent to transform America. Michele Obama said Obama knew we would have to change our conversation, change our history and change our traditions. Along with the Progressives holding office, a complicit news media and the extremely lengthy tentacles of George Soros, they are closer than ever to pulling it off. Crashing the system Cloward and Piven style into a structured socialist system they have been busy constructing for decades is their goal.

America, asleep at the switch no doubt, is awakening to the extreme actions of the Obama administration. As Obama sits on the brink of launching this transformational change beyond the point of no return, the American public does not like what they see. But Obama is not going to back down quietly, his arrogance will not allow for it. And he has grander plans anyhow.

Even though Obama has been actively working around Congress from the beginning behind his slew of Czars and Cass Sunstein and is in defiance against Congress in the War Powers Act, his imperialist dreams would not allow him to formally sidestep Congress during the debt crisis en route to his own dictatorship. Or would they?



As appalled as I am by Obama's comments, the crowd cheering on the emergence of a dictatorship is unsettling to say the least. Are we in fact in danger of an Imperial Presidency? Indeed. Economist Jerry Bowyer and FOX News Andrew Napolitano discuss the possibility of Obama dodging the 14th Amendment. Take a listen.



While many have not been paying close enough attention, this type of behavior by Obama is not new. Authors Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski join Sean Hannity to discuss their book "The Blueprint". Blackwell explains Obama may perhaps only a Supreme Court Judge away from forcing this upon us. Take a listen:



America is in real trouble as freedom and liberty are at stake. It would be simple to say we are lacking leadership, but in reality we have an American impostor as Commander in Chief, an individual that does not see the fruited plain in the same way you and I visualize it. An economic neophyte, Obama is actively functioning to use economic destruction as the drive train in crashing the capitalist system, righting perceived wrongs through the transformation of wealth.

This action simply must be thwarted by any legal means possible. Backed by the TEA party, the Congressional Republicans are the only hope to block our demise. I pray they stand firm. May the words Ronald Reagan resonate the halls of Congress:

"It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles, there will be no compromise".

As this debt ceiling negotiation plays itself out, keep a keen eye on the other hand as our President is boxed into a corner, a spot he is unfamiliar being in.

Bachmann In Overdrive

The thunderclap last November that turned the tables on big spending politicians (Democrats) resulting in the biggest turnover of party leadership in over 50 years appears to have left many in Washington whistling by the graveyard.

On the way out, under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D:NV), who somehow got re-elected, a 1900 page omnibus spending bill has been presented, and likely will pass since many appropriators and some "moderate" Republicans are in favor along with most all those who love to needlessly spend your money (Democrats).

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R:MN) is not happy, and neither am I. Bachmann spoke with FOX Business's Judge Andrew Napolitano:



The country is broke, and economic troubles are indeed on the way, even if those smiling faces in Washington tell you differently. For Reid and his followers to propose such an outrageous spending bill with the economic problems looming and on the heels of the loud word of the people last November, it illustrates a complete disregard for the American people and champions a new level of arrogance. John McCain (R:AZ), for the love of Pete, is threatening to filibuster! Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal editorializes on the final insult of this 111th Congress.

This slap in the face of the electorate will simply not be tolerated. Those who are in support and vote to implement this anchor of spending, and who are in large measure complicit in bankrupting of our country, will certainly be held accountable. Democrats will not get my support anyhow, but any Republican voting for this suffocating debt stricken bill will find me campaigning vigorously against them, including endless scorching here on the blog.

It goes back to comments correctly made by Ronald Reagan: "We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much”. Last year, the Tea Party Patriots led the nation to speak loud and clear on this subject. To work off a quote by CNBC's Rick Santelli, "Washington, were you listening? Stop Spending!"

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, I hope so. Unfortunately, I fear they are actively working the Cloward & Piven strategy to crash the system and if so, the governmental structure placed in our care by our founding fathers would appear to be at extreme risk.

A note for those in Washington. We surround you, and we work tirelessly to hold you accountable. We are indeed in a time of choosing, and those attempting to endlessly spend our money are not part of the solution, which is free market capitalism, our best path to prosperity.

Get The Lead Out!

I recently attended a continuing education class and had to tackle my wallet as it bolted for the door. In what can only be described as a staggering example of an overreach of governmental regulation, the EPA has implemented new costly regulatory measures to combat potential issues involving lead based paint, which is found in buildings constructed before 1978. An NBC affiliate has more:



The Better Business Bureau offers further explanation.

Like the greater majority of governmental intervention in the marketplace on behalf of the consumer, the new requirements, which are beyond extensive, are going to cause significant strains to an already bludgeoned housing industry and small businesses in supporting industries. Jeremy Drobeck of 1st Class Mortgage Service is not happy. Take a listen:



FOX Business's Dagen McDowell and Brian Sullivan have more:



The Wall Street Journal thinks you are willing to suck down more costs to defend against lead based paint, but FOX Business's Brian Sullivan sums up the unintended consequences. Property owners who own homes built prior to 1978 who are considering repairs face an estimated 25% in additional costs per project as businesses must pass along the extra costs of completing the job. These additional costs serve as a tax raising expenses which could make these renovations cost prohibitive.

As a property owner of these type of properties, I will now refrain from taking on upgrading projects that fall under the new EPA requirements. In my capacity as an investor, I will be much more inclined on purchases for renovation and for long term holding to seek out buildings built after 1978. Since I am no doubt not alone in this mindset, in my capacity as an appraiser perhaps a negative adjustment should be applied to all homes built before 1978 due to the extra costs associated with any repairs that may be required going forward.

Who will enforce these regulations anyhow, since county code enforcement workers are plenty busy already. Could it be the 6000 person civilian army President Obama has recently implemented?



Currently, our government is engaging in the installation of excessive regulations, much in support of global warming from cap and trade, that will severely handicap economic growth and prosperity. These regulations take the form of a tax, and you need not be Milton Friedman to recognize that when you tax something, you get less of it. With the implementation of the looming cap and trade bill, the residential governance on the energy efficiency of improvements and this overreach regarding lead based paint, it appears that property rights are under alarming assault. In addition, property values will face additional negative pricing pressure and any future recovery of the housing market will be handicapped.

Free market capitalism remains the best path to prosperity!

Keep the Tap Open at Happy Hour

According to a handful of reports, Happy Hour is over at FOX Business Network.

Happy Hour, a program set in the Bulls & Bears Pub in the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, covers market related business and political topics of the day, with hosts Eric Bolling, Rebecca Diamond and Cody Willard. It allows interaction between bar patrons and the hosts and guests. Although drafts are a bit stout at $8 a piece, it was fun to "be a part of the show" while having a few tall cool ones. Last time I was there I tried to turn Imogen Lloyd Webber into a conservative but failed miserably.

This decision is one of many changes that has been taking place at FBN, and I view this particular move a major mistake. Certainly, I am no television executive and I am sure they could not care what I think. But this was a quality program that had the unfortunate draw of going up against Glenn Beck on FOX News Channel, where Beck has been rewriting the record book for ratings. I watch Beck at 5PMEST, but usually caught the replay of Happy Hour. I think the show would fare much better if they moved it 6PM.

FBN has some outstanding talent on hand and I hope they have some positive plans for the future. So far I am not real keen on what has been happening. Certainly, the recent departure of the talented Alexis Glick, who is left of my taste, is a major loss. I hear Judge Andrew Napolitano is getting a weekend show, and that is good news as he is very strong. Charles Payne is a very good market analyst and I would like to see him get a show. FBN also apparently canceled the Saturday show with Dagan McDowell and Tracey Byrnes, which I think is another mistake. Eric Bolling is very good and I do like Cody Willard and his opinions as well. David Asman is top notch, and his program America's Nightly Scoreboard is great. Liz Claman and Stuart Varney are strong centerpieces for Neil Cavuto to work with.

I hope the future is bright for FBN, but I sure do wish they would keep the beers flowing during "Happy Hour"

Who is Obamacare Army Adversary?

Previously, President Obama has openly spoken about his intention to form a civilian army, one with equal power to our military forces. Roll the tape:



Is there a need for this type of organization? What purposes does the President envision for this organization? What is the makeup of the individuals who will staff this organization? Who is the organization accountable to? These are just a few of the many questions I have. Glenn Beck, fellow sick twisted freak, has some questions as well:



I have found this administration untrustworthy, and find the announcement of the formation of the "Ready Reserve Corps" to be most troubling. You become an instant candidate for the Anti-Christ if in any way you were to compare Obama to Adloph Hitler, but did Hitler not form a civilian army which morphed into the SS?

I am not going there, yet, but I do see the potential for members of civil disobedience groups like ACORN or union thugs from SEIU staffing the Reserve Coprs. Will the Apollo Alliance, who astonishingly helped craft the stimulus bill, be part of the creative team? Of course, the NY division of Apollo is headed by Weather Underground co-founder, along with Obama's favorite unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, Jeff Jones. As reported by Atlas Shrugs, they have already began recruiting veterans to help launch an “Operation Free” campaign that has veterans touring the country to call for federal action on climate change, which is perhaps the greatest hoax of all time. I could easily see former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones running point on this!

As alarming as this is, the organization is not set up to be accountable to American people through Congress, but only to the President. See the following:

3) APPOINTMENT.—Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall be appointed by the President and commissioned officers of the Regular Corps shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Source pg 1312

Caution on the speedway!! I read that as advice and consent of the Senate, not accountable to the Senate, or the American people for that matter. This administration has bullied the other legislative branches, threatening Congress and admonishing in front of the American people the Supreme Court of The United States, attempting to diminish their power. Our country is built on among other things a system of checks and balances, to prohibit abuses of power. I consider the President forming his own army accountable only to him for undefined domestic purposes such an abuse.

On top of it all, the provision, and the entire Health Care Reform Bill for that mater, may in fact be unconstitutional. Judge Andrew Napolitano of FOX News discusses the action on FOX Business Network's Happy Hour with Tracey Byrnes, Eric Bolling and Cody Willard. Take a listen:



So we have the Ready Reserve Corps, a domestic army formed to operate at the discretion of the President to be used for domestic purposes accountable only to the President. For what reason? Who is the enemy of the armed Reserve Corps? I sure hope it is not me and my fellow Tea Party Patriots!

The American Revival

Although it was a lovely day here in beautiful downtown Orlando on Saturday, I spent the day with three friends at the UCF Arena in Orlando attending the Glenn Beck American Revival Tour, and it was truly a wonderful experience had by all.

The day focused on becoming reconnected with three distinct values that were integral building blocks of our founding fathers; faith, hope and charity.

David Barton began the day giving us a thorough history on the role faith played in the formation of our country, and how extensively the founding fathers referenced religion in their writings. Unfortunately, many are tyring to diminish the role of faith in the birth of America, and it was great to hear some keen insight on this vitally important subject.

The economics of the day are indeed critical as we are on an unsustainable path and are on the heels of adding a mind boggling entitlement program so expensive we ran out of zeros on the old HP12C. Economist David Buckner, of Columbia University in New York, discussed that in order for there to be hope, there must first be truth and we need to know the cold hard facts about our economic standing to take the correct paths going forward. A real no spin zone!

The Constitution is under attack and who better than Judge Andrew Napolitano of FOX News to offer a rousing perspective on how the intrusive governmental acts over time have eroded our rights as they were outlined in The Constitution. The Judge hit it out of the park and reiterated that our rights are given to us by our Creator and not by government, and free people are notably generous through the goodness of their heart and not by governmental force of hand.

Glenn Beck keynoted the day and was, as usual, tremendous. The day was not spent firebombing those in office, but rather outlining an educational foundation from which a course of action can be taken to regain the values and principles our founding fathers set out for us, which do not include strangling debt, a departure from faith, intrusive government and the erosion of our rights.

Many thanks to Glenn, the panelists and of course, Stu and Pat for a wonderful event.

Faith, Hope & Charity

The American Revival Tour with Glenn Beck hits Orlando on Saturday. I agree with Glenn that the US Citizenry is under attack from within. I plan to play a role in thwarting those who tread against us tea party patriots.



Slamming the brakes on the transformation of America begins anew Saturday as we plot to restore America. I'll see you there.

A Matter of Common Sense

President Barack Obama has placed the nefarious group ACORN in charge of the Census, which is a truly horrible idea, unless you are interested in corruption and fraud.

Freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R:UT, has the problem solved and discusses his proposal with Judge Andrew Napolitano on The Glenn Beck Program.



Is anyone in Washington listening?

A Bunch of Thugs

Remember these fine gentlemen brandishing weapons at a polling place in Philadelphia on election day, November 4, 2008?



This is no doubt voter intimidation and a clear violation of the law (Voting Rights Act) and this cannot happen in America, so when the Obama administration reviewed the case of these Black Panthers, surely they acted accordingly to punish and prohibit this unlawful activity?

Not so fast my friend! The Justice Department dropped the charges, but warned the men not to bring any weapons next time. Are you kidding? Why would these thugs not be punished? Well, apparently, thuggery is welcomed in Obama's world.

Unfortunately, this should not come as a surprise to anyone. We all knew of the long standing associating Obama had with the organization ACORN, who loudly boasts of using terrorist tactics, oh sorry, civil disobedience, to intimidate our citizenry. I have called attention to the orchestrated intimidation of the American International Group executives and the layers of fraudulent activity associated with the housing crisis.

And perhaps the most dangerous example is the abysmal strong arm tactics used in the governmental takeover of General Motors and Chrysler. While contract law, and our Constitution, continues to be trampled under foot by this administration, there is no better example of the antics used to trash small business and threaten free market capitalism to the core. I urge you to take time out to engage the following interview Glenn Beck had with Gretchen Carlson, co-host of FOX News FOX & Friends and a former Miss America, whose family has owned a GM dealership outside Minneapolis, Minnesota for 90 years and will lose it at the end of the week. Judge Andrew Napolitano and Charles Payne of FOX Business Network sit in on the conversation. Please, listen to this:



Although the car companies had many issues which inhibited the profit margin, government was the main culprit and has now destroyed the industry. The actions of our government in the demise of these companies, including the ignoring of shareholder rights, is sickening.

Incredibly, examples of thuggery are commonplace in our government these days, and our founding fathers would be appalled at this behavior. If you examine your inner thoughts and beliefs, you recognize this is not right also.

I am sure you don't own a car company, but remember those who turned away when they came for the Jews since they were not Jews. They appear to coming for you, particularly if are a small business owner. Will anyone be left to stand up in your defense?