Thursday night I had the pleasure of visiting with my dear friends and fellow patriots of the North Central Ohio Conservatives. My topic was the Fed and the Economy, and I approached it primarily from a micro-economic perspective. Because so many members of the NCOC read these columns, I would like to add a brief macro-economic point of view. But first, I wish to extend many thanks to Jim and Jan Green, Marsha and Keith Rexroth for a great dinner and superb companionship.
With our artificially low interest rates mandated by the Fed, we are facing a national economic Armageddon in the near future. Our $16 trillion debt and our more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities added to the profligate spending by our governments at all levels means that our debt service (interest payments) are at astronomical levels and in grave danger of becoming impossible to maintain. Right now the federal government is paying less than 1% interest on the national debt because of the heavy-handed intervention by the Federal Reserve in the free market. If the situation in Europe disintegrates to the point that upward pressure on interest rates is unavoidable, the cost of servicing our U.S. debt will double, triple or perhaps soar out of sight. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all other entitlement programs will be severely affected as will national defense and every other government program….constitutional and unconstitutional. Our government’s emphasis will pivot from a buying-votes mentality to a taxing-for-survival oppressive approach. It won’t be pretty. It will be painful. We must prepare.
On a lighter note…..oh, there is no lighter note.
Next weekend…the 25th and 26th, I’ll be in Elizabethtown, Kentucky for the annual convention of the Libertarian Party of Kentucky (LPKY). I am honored to be their main speaker with the “Why Liberty, Why Now” message scheduled for 3:30pm on Saturday the 26th. Thanks to Chairman Ken Moellman and his fellow Bluegrass defenders of liberty for inviting me.
Have you ever found yourself so engrossed in a task that you were unaware of what was happening around you? As I become more and more disturbed by the circumstances of our nation and the congressional failures to challenge the President and stop the bleeding, I suspect that those in Washington whom we expect to stop this mess are clueless. They are so engaged in the political aspects of their offices that they must be ignorant of our dire situation. We know that congress persons rarely read the legislation they pass, and that most of their time is devoted to fundraising and managing their public personas. Indeed, their failures to carefully monitor and understand the ramifications of their legislative activity are profound indictments of the untenable and unconstitutional massiveness of the federal government. It is far too large to be managed by 535 venal people. If the reach of the federal monstrosity were confined to the enumerated powers as listed in The Constitution of the United States of America, the 435 House members and the 100 senators could spread themselves broadly enough with fewer committees to effectively oversee the federal functions. Big is not necessarily better. Big is much worse, more dangerous and totally ineffective. The word that comes to mind that describes the precarious state of the nation is …….delegation. Too much delegation leads to entrenched bureaucratic fiefdoms and unaccountable career politicians.
It’s about time to start my garden seeds, but I’m somewhat hesitant. The winter has been so mild so far that it’s quite possible we will have a vengeful early spring thus delaying the transfer of the little plants to the outdoors. Decisions, decisions….I think I’ll start half of each species/variety now and the remainder in early March.
I read last week that North Korea had employed American-made drones that they purchased from Syria who had bought them as used surplus material from us with foreign aid money and credits we provided them. And some of you believe that Ron Paul’s foreign policy is “wacky.” Perhaps his is, but no one in his right mind and with a straight face can convince me that the one we have now and we have followed for years is working all that well.
Three Afghan nationals were intercepted in Texas after crossing into the U.S. over the southern border. I wonder how many we’ve missed so far. Meanwhile Granny continues to get fondled at the Charleston, W.V. airport and every other interior landing spot that features nothing but domestic air traffic. More government wisdom and efficiency is on display to calm the fears of the citizens. They have semantically disemboweled “protect and defend” until it has become “harass and annoy.” These are the baby steps of a tyranny quickly growing to raging adolescence. It seems that the time has passed for correcting the child in the way that he should go. The only logical response is to sentence the culprits to a juvenile detention center.
Greg Ruffner, candidate for Wood County Commissioner, will be my guest on Tuesday’s show. My little audio battle for liberty begins at 6:00pm and ends at 7:00pm on the Talk of Toledo, 1370 WSPD.
Have a great remainder of the weekend. Enjoy President’s Day on Monday by celebrating the few who were constitutionally faithful….shouldn’t take too long. We’ve only had 44 of them and the way things are going, we may not have many more…..if any.
