There shall be no economic freedom in this country. You shall not be free to engage in monetary risk at all, because government has decided that’s not safe. You will not buy a house in the hopes it will increase in value if you and the seller agree, because government says that’s not safe. If you do it, you will be jailed. In addition, because everyone now has a right to housing, it’s much too dangerous to leave housing to the free market, so government shall control any and all housing transactions. In addition, government will now buy and sell houses because they know better than you how much houses should cost. If you want a house, ask government, and they will buy it for you. The conversion to complete socialism in the mortgage industry is now complete.

Seriously, that’s what it says. The government just spent (presuming it passes the Senate) nearly $5 trillion dollars (even if they won’t admit that’s what they spent). They have completely taken over the mortgage industry because government will now back ALL mortgage loans. They are going into the business of buying and selling houses — go ahead, try and compete with someone who has literally unlimited money. They’re buying votes from all sorts of people by taking money from responsible working people. I am starting to understand more people like Ed Brown who simply stop paying taxes because government is so corrupt it’s insane.

Go ahead, keep thinking this is a free country. You’re just plain wrong. We currently have some sort of government that’s between communism and total socialism. Government controls industry and we’re only allowed to vote for those that the two political parties choose. Oh, how I yearn for freedom.

But the government put together a presentation that shows they honestly do not care one bit about how much money they spend. Sure, if you take the presentation at face value, it looks like this effort would actually bring income to the city. But if you look a little closer, you see that’s not actually the case.

In one place, the presentation bases all its numbers, including those that show a “profit,” on a 70% household participation. However, on the previous page, they show the nationwide average figures of participation is 40-80%, and their own goal is only 50%! So the city is going to try and get 50% participation, but bases ALL the calculations and figures on 70%! I don’t know if you can call that outright lying, but it sure is dishonest in every sense of the word. They also don’t mention in the presentation the line that helps them “earn” money listed as “tax income.”

Worse, they go on to claim that it would cost more if they let a private company do the collections for them — and then provide the data to show that’s completely untrue! The presentation claims that a private company will pick up recycling for just $3.75 per house per month. That’s all. So what would happen in a freedom-based country? The claimed 72% of town residents that want recycling could just pay $3.75 a month and get it. That’s it. There would be no government employees to pay. There would be no administrators to pay. There would be no mismanagement by the government. And best of all — the 28% of residents who do not want to be forced to pay to make other people feel good WOULDN’T HAVE TO PAY!

In other words, the options are clear. Government can use force to require people to pay them, and government will spend nearly $70 a year per household; or people could be free to contract with other free people to get curbside recycling for less than $4 a month (around $48 a year). I bet you can guess what the board “suggested” that the town do, can’t you? Government today, even in small towns, is about using force to control people and nothing more.

I will miss most the wonderful Busch Gardens theme parks. I am quite sure they will be a casualty of InBev — and they were, by far, the best entertainment parks in the world. And yes, a LOT better than anything Disney has ever made.

Republican Stimulus: Give people some of their own money.

Democrat Stimulus: Let government spend more of the people’s money.

Then again, you can consider what would happen if people like Ron Paul, Libertarians, or the Constitution Party were running the place:

Stimulus: Government stop collecting and spending money that’s not theirs.

1. “There is no cause to worry. The high tide of prosperity will continue.”

2. “It’s a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation.”

3. “The Government’s business is in sound condition.”

4. “Our economy has got very strong long-term fundamentals, solid fundamentals. And you know, your policy-makers here, regulators, we’re being very vigilant.”

5. “Reports to the Department of Commerce indicate that business is in a satisfactory condition [today].”

6. “But again, it’s a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation.”

7. “Definite signs that business and industry have turned the corner from the temporary period of emergency that followed deflation of the speculative market were seen today.”

8. “The fundamental strength of the US economy, and I’m talking about the long-term fundamentals, I believe they
compare favorably in this country with any other developed industrial nation around the world.”

9. “We have hit bottom and are on the upswing.”

10. “The bottom line is this: We’re going through a tough time. But our economy has continued growing, consumers are spending, businesses are investing, exports continue increasing, and American productivity remains strong.”

So, did you guess?

All of the statements above that are even-numbered were made in the past month by the Bush administration — either by Bush himself, or his secretary of treasury.

All of the statements above that are odd-numbered were made by members of the Hoover administration — between September 1929 and September 1930. And remember, in the first half of 1930, the government spent more money while people spent less. Wages did not start their substantial drop until 1931 — after all these statements were made. And the Great Depression really got into full swing in late 1930 and didn’t hit bottom until 1933.

The three big issues we’re facing right now are, first, the housing correction which is at the heart of the slowdown; secondly, turmoil of the capital markets; and thirdly, the high oil prices, which are going to prolong the slowdown

While the banking system is fine, banks are failing. Listen to my words, not reality. War is Peace. I understand.

So what is our ever-faithful Democrat-led Congress doing about these three big issues? They’re working hard to stop people from getting mortgages by crushing freedom. They’re working to pass laws to make it even harder for people to get loans, and make it easier to throw people in jail for lending money. So their solution to the housing correction is to make LESS people buy houses. Great.

The capital markets are in turmoil. What are the Democrat plans there? Spend trillions on government programs. And yes, capital gains taxes will have to be increased in order to pay for such employment programs. They are working to raise taxes to ensure that there will be less invested in companies so the capital markets will get worse.

How about oil prices? Oh right, Democrats are stopping drilling to ensure oil prices stay high, and they’re actually going to RAISE gas taxes to make sure gasoline stays affordable only for the “rich.”

So there you have it — Democrats in Congress are working hard, doing everything they possibly can to actually make the economy WORSE than it already is. No, seriously. Why? Because they believe that the worse the economy is, the better chances they have in the fall elections. Sorry, but that’s how politicians operate today. They want to get elected and will quite literally do anything they can, no matter the consequences, if they can just get re-elected and get more power.

What’s the solution? Vote them all out. Vote for a Libertarian. Vote for a non-politician. Don’t vote for lawyers. And yes, I’m aware that many people don’t have that option at all. In that case, just keep your ammo dry (while it’s still legal to own ammo) and wait until the people finally have had enough.

Lyrics:

Now if youre feelin kinda low bout the dues youve been paying
Futures coming much too slow
And you wanna run but somehow you just keep on stayin
Cant decide on which way to go
Yeah, yeah, yeah

I understand about indecision
But I dont care if I get behind
People livin in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind.

Now youre climbin to the top of the company ladder
Hope it doesnt take too long
Cantcha you see therell come a day when it wont matter
Come a day when youll be gone

I understand about indecision
But I dont care if I get behind
People li vin in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind.

Take a look ahead, take a look ahead, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…

Now everybodys got advice they just keep on givin
Doesnt mean too much to me
Lots of people out to make-believe theyre livin
Cant decide who they should be.

I understand about indecision
But I dont care if I get behind
People li vin in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind.

Take a look ahead, take a look ahead. look ahead.

Yes, this is similar to the Terry Schiavo case, but I think it’s much worse. Terry was married and one could question that her parents were more important than her husband. In this case, the girl’s own father is willing to take complete care of the girl. The mother says “no.” And we all know how courts rule when there’s a custody battle. By default, the woman wins. And in this case, the court order has been given: Murder Lauren because her mother says so.

And people claim we’re civilized. If this is civilized, I want to go live in a cave.