The Fed has turned our Economy into a Drunken Spoiled Teenager with Car Keys

Poor stock investors.  Their sugar daddy - Ben Bernanke - announced this week that the Fed might, just might, end the gravy train of cheap money sometime later this year.

 

The stock market, along with gold, commodities and your grandma's investments in antique clocks all too a huge hit on this "terrible news".

 

To quote the President, "Let me be clear"....

 

Simply put, the whole country has been turned into a parent's worst nightmare - the drunk, spoiled teenager with keys to a car paid for with mommy and daddy's money.

 

The teenager in this case is all of us who are riding high on the most massive printing of fiat (translation: worthless in the future) money since Adam and Eve were first trying on underwear.

 

Ron Paul warned all of us about this stuff.  When you have a currency that is not backed by gold and is controlled by human beings - and those human beings are trying to stimulate the demand for goods and services - and do not have to answer to anyone and put "In God we Trust" on what they are printing, it is a recipe for disaster.

 

Just ask the Germans who remember the 1920s.  Ask current residents of Zimbabwe about the hyperinflation created by Robert Mugabe.  Ask any nation that has ever printed money to deal with economic problems.  The result is always - I repeat ALWAYS the same.

 

The people fall in love with cheap money, making it hard for central banks to stop giving them cheap money.

 

The cheap money eventually leads to a devaluation of the currency which leads to huge increases in prices.

 

The huge increases in prices lead to a collapse in the economy.

 

Then, depending on the politics of the day. the collapse in the economy leads to new politicians or new dictators or new World Wars.

 

I find it hard to believe that in just seven years after the last cheap money recession began we are now pushing towards the same - and bigger result - with even more cheap money.

 

Somewhere around 137% of the current increase in home values and stock prices is tied to cheap money.  This means 137% of the next recession will be caused by the consequences of cheap money.

 

The Fed (which should be abolished) should announce that the bond-buying binge is going to end and let the drunk teenagers (us) with car keys (economic choices) pay for their own cars with sound money that comes from an economy driven by real economic growth polices (low taxes, less regulations and tighter money supplies).

 

I don't think Bernanke has the guts to tell Obama that the cheap credit days are going to end and need to be replaced with Reagan-like fiscal policies.

 

Since it is unlikely that quantitative squeezing is coming any time soon, we can expect those who are addicted to cheap money to cry and scream every time the Fed (our money parents) even mention making us live within our means.

 

Living within our means will be what results from the sugar daddy Fed driving our economy into the ditch of irresponsible monetary policy.

 

Enjoy the ride....

If Tim Tebow fails again, it might be because God is opposing him

Tim Tebow's new job with the New England Patriots might be in jeopardy.

 

The photo on the left is one possible reason.

 

Many of you might not know this, but I am a graduate of The University of Oklahoma.  The same OU that Tebow's Gators beat for the National Championship of college football many seasons ago. 

 

I am not bitter that my school lost.  I am not angry either.  I am, however, convinced that the man upstairs has put the bad mojo on Tebow over something he did during this game.

 

Late in the contest, the Christian Tim Tebow looked at an OU player and very pridefully did the "Gator Chomp" in his face.  No one said anything about it in the broadcast booth.  Since then, all we have been told is that this "messiah in cleats" (look it up, if you don't believe me...) is pretty much the most near-flawless human being to walk the planet since.....__________ (you fill in the blank).

 

In the Bible there is a verse in James 4:6 that reads, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

 

And there it is.

 

I have told my sons - both fine athletes in their own right that this verse should be emblazoned in their minds in every game they play.  After all, can you imagine your odds of success when God is your opponent?

 

I have never heard Tebow express remorse for this incident.  He can say "God bless" at the end of every interview from here to rapture, but if he has not asked for forgiveness for this incredible display of pride and arrogance towards a fellow human being, I am afraid God will show up at the Patriots camp and keep Tebow's horrible throwing motion right where it is.

 

While I am at it, to all the rest of you athletes who so openly profess your love of Jesus - right after you dance around like a horses rear end in the endzone, you need to wise up too.  First, God does not care that you can run with a football.  Second, he does not want you bringing prideful attention to yourself and third (look it up), he wants you to pray in private for your good fortune rather than carry on like the Pharisees used to - you know, praying out in the open so everyone could admire them.

 

It is up to you now, Tim.  I hope you get this right soon, otherwise it is going to be another long season for you.

Sadly, the WWII generation only bought us time..

As I am normally inclined to do every June 6th, last night I went out into my game room and watched Saving Private Ryan by myself.  I do this as an annual reminder of an event that is very important to me personally and to our nation.

 

The Youtube video below is an interview of my wife's uncle - and in my heart, my uncle as well.  His name is Bill Coleman and sadly, he died last December.

 

Bill Coleman was part of the United States Airborne that dropped into France the night before the D-Day invasion. 

 

Not long after this teenager from Florida landed he was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent the rest of the war as a POW before he managed to escape.  Later, he worked in innumerable business ventures, was a member of the Florida legislature, consulted with Tom Hanks on the Band of Brothers series and even parachuted into Normandy again - when he was 80 years old - where he received the highest medal given by the French government.

 

While he was alive, I spent as much time as I could with him, asking question after question about his experiences, his life after the war, his view of politics, the future of America and more.

 

Last night, two things dawned on me.  First, I miss Bill Coleman more than he can know.  Second, he and the other men who fought during World War II gave up so much - including 405.000 who were killed - only to buy our nation time before the clock winds down on us for good.

 

What I mean by that is very simple.

 

June 6, 1944 took place 160 years after the signing of The Declaration of Independence.  When the signers of this sacred philosophical contract were done, they probably knew that there would be an expiration date on it.

 

Thomas Jefferson once said, "The inevitable progression of things is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield." 

 

The inevitable progression....inevitable...

 

What a prophetic word.  Jefferson and the others were brilliant students of history.  They knew that no major power had ever survived.  From Egypt to Rome to Great Britain, all had died under the weight of more and more government corruption, power, waste and hubris.  None even managed to survive as significant players in world history.  All of these empires became poor and largely ignored as the world was reshaped over and over again.

 

When Bill Coleman dropped into France, he was fighting for his life, the life of other members of the Airborne and the life of our nation.  He could not know that by 2013, 69 years later, that the nation he fought for would have devolved into the same character-less shell that other nations had become.

 

In my talks will Mr. Coleman, he expressed grave concern over where our nation was heading.  He spoke often of the growing apathy for liberty, the entitlement mentality, the lack of honor in our "leaders" and more.  You could sense the sadness he felt was very real and I often wondered if he ever felt like his efforts and the lives that were lost were worth it.

 

I am sure he would say it was.  After all, our nation could have died 69 years ago under the tyranny of Germany and Japan.

 

I am so thankful that his generation of Americans managed to buy us precious time as we inevitably slouch towards the same fate as Rome. 

 

Historians will someday record that our nation managed to maintain a system of relative liberty longer than any in history.  How many years that system will last is not certain.  My great-grandchildren will more likely see the end than I will. 

 

Until then, I think all of us who believe in liberty need to keep doing our small little part to preserve it even as we today read about our government mining our phone, email and Internet activity for the past seven years.  We need to be mindful that governments have always been - and always will be - corrupt and filled with dishonest people who value power over freedom.

 

All we can do is fight the good fight so that our posterity will look back and know that we fought for them too.

 

First DNA testing. Then....and then.....and then....

"It may be wise, as the court obviously believes, to make the Leviathan all-seeing, so that he may protect us all the better. But the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would not have been so eager to open their mouths for royal inspection. I dissent."

These are the words of Antonin Scalia, who yesterday was one of four Supreme Court justices, that dissented in the 5-4 ruling that allows the police to DNA test us without a warrant if we are a suspect in a "serious" crime.

And here it begins.

 

Remember when there was no legal requirement to wear a seat belt?  Then came laws saying we had to wear it or get ticket - but only if we were stopped for doing something else.  Now, we can be stopped and ticketed just for the refusal to protect ourselves from a wreck.  It does not matter that we own our bodies and cars and thus the seat belts.  Get a ticket for not using your property the way the state says you should.  I wonder what we will be required to use next?

 

Remember when you could willingly refuse to engage in commerce?  Now the Obama Administration tells us that starting next year we could be fined or ultimately jailed if we refuse to engage in commerce in the health insurance sector.  I wonder what we will be required to buy next?

 

Remember when we could read our mail without worrying about the government reading it first?  Now, thanks to the Patriot Act the powers that be can read our mail, our email and monitor our Internet activity - and prosecute us without first letting us know that they have been reading our personal correspondence.  I wonder what they will listen in on, or read next?

 

These, of course, are on top of a million other laws and regulations telling us what we can eat, what we can and cannot say, which adults we can have consensual relationships with, whose dinner we have to buy, what retirement plan we will be forced to contribute to, where we can set up a business, what type of business it can be, what type of employees can work there, what we must pay them and on and on and on...

 

People say to me - when I express concern over issues like this - "Mr. Chambless, if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about. 

 

Incorrect. 

 

It is because I am doing nothing wrong that I do worry.

 

Why?

 

Because the government keeps changing the definition of "wrong."

 

Mark my words.  Within 10 years we will be DNA checked for far more than being suspects in serious crimes.  20 years from now we will be required to submit DNA to the government as a condition of driving, getting married and/or other pursuits. 

 

By July 4, 2076 there will be a national data bank with every American's DNA profile - and more - so that the people we put into power can know more about us than the Founders ever intended.

 

Do not be surprised if by our 300th anniversary the federal government will also have managed to have everyone submit to some form of GPS tracking. 

 

You know, to keep us "safe".

Wasting money battling life's losers...

Sometime today a home security company will send a representative to my house where I will proceed to shell out a boatload of money to have a home protection/monitoring system installed. 

 

This is on top of the money I have already spent this weekend on timing switches for our lights.

 

That is on top of taking my 12-gauge shotgun out from under my bed and placing it in an area where I can get to it faster.

 

That is on top of a very unenjoyable talk I had to have with my sons about how to defend their mother if I am ever away when some thug tries to enter our home.

 

Why all the fuss?

 

It is pretty simple.

 

I used to live in the Central Florida equivalent of Mayberry, North Carolina.  Dirt roads, friendly people and a slow, quiet lifestyle.

 

No more.

 

A few weeks ago, three homes within a half mile or less or our house were burglarized.

 

Shortly after than, our neighbor about 150 yards behind us had a break in while he was napping.

 

Three days ago, our neighbor across the street - about 30 yards away had the same happen to her.

 

When I talked to the police who were working her case I found myself realizing what my brother - the Chief of Police in a major midwestern town told me.  "Jack, the police always show up after the fact..."

 

That being the case, I now have to spend my hard-earned money to do something about "before the fact", or "during the fact".

 

And that has caused something "funny" to dawn on me.

 

First, I wonder if the losers who are robbing people of their property in town have jobs doing something productive somewhere else and simply rob people to supplement travel plans or the purchase of better health care plans?

 

Probably not.

 

I wonder what the odds are that in addition to robbing people of their property these thugs live in part off of those same people in the form of foodstamps and welfare?

 

High odds, I would venture to say.

 

I wonder, if I end up shooting one of them some day, if (should they not die) my taxes will be used to pay for their recovery while in the hospital?

 

Yes, that is true too.

 

Isn't it just a little ironic that for those of us who work hard every day to earn money we end up first having our money taken by force so that losers can eat and have a roof over their heads, only to have those ungrateful jerks then break into our homes and cars and businesses so they can have even more of our stuff?

 

A good friend of mine in Tennessee once told me about a buddy of his who worked two jobs and many hours every day to take care of his family.

 

Someone was telling his buddy about this or that program that was "needed" to help the poor.

 

His buddy said, "To h... with the poor!  What did they ever do for me?"

 

Good question.