Monday, October 24, 2011

Conflicts At The Fed

Bernie Sanders press release recounts how the Government Accountability Office has found conflicts of interest at the Federal Reserve.

GAO Finds Serious Conflicts at the Fed
A new audit of the Federal Reserve released today detailed widespread conflicts of interest involving directors of its regional banks.

"The most powerful entity in the United States is riddled with conflicts of interest," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said after reviewing the Government Accountability Office report. The study required by a Sanders Amendment to last year's Wall Street reform law examined Fed practices never before subjected to such independent, expert scrutiny.


The GAO found the conflicts of interest at the Fed when they looked into a small part of the Fed. Ron Paul's bill to allow the GAO to conduct a full and complete audit of the Federal Reserve should be signed into law.

Sarah Palin Agrees With Limiting Foreign Military Interventions

Regarding Ron Paul's view on limited foreign interventions and nation building, Sarah Palin recently said, "You have to hand it to Ron Paul." "Congress does have a role to play in these foreign policies that are made and Ron Paul has hit the nail on the head when he says the President must be careful when he interjects ourselves into other nation's business."

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

"Ron Paul has a good idea"

Rush Limbaugh says Ron Paul's idea for balancing the budget is a "good idea".

Ron Paul Has a Good Idea
RUSH: ... Ron Paul has a good idea.

CALLER: Really?

RUSH: ... Kevin Williamson writing at The Corner, National Review Online: "Politico reports that Ron Paul is about to show the Republican presidential field what a serious fiscal-reform plan looks like, proposing $1 trillion in real spending cuts. I look forward to seeing the detailed version of the plan, but the summary sounds promising: He’ll propose immediately freezing spending by numerous government agencies at 2006 levels, the last time Republicans had complete control of the federal budget, and drastically reducing spending elsewhere.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Big Nanny Federal Government vs State's Rights

Ron Paul's proposal to cut $1 trillion in federal government spending is a bold plan that fits with our economic realities. While this is rightly receiving significant press, I found this interesting article published earlier this year in The Oklahoma Daily.

The editorial compares so-called states right's vs federal oversight on the issue of regulation of medical marijuana:
The federal government spends $26 billion a year on the war on drugs ...
The U.S. has traditionally focused on law enforcement rather than treatment. ...
The benefits organized crime received from our attempted crackdown on drugs should have been predictable. ...
Not only have our policies given great profits to drug cartels, they also have tended to stigmatize drug users in such a way that they are less likely to seek treatment
. ...
... Global Commission on Drug Policy concluded the global war on drugs is “an abject disaster” ...

By making marijuana regulation an issue for the states rather than simply decriminalizing it, the senators are taking advantage of a certain level of hypocrisy in many conservative politicians.
This is a constitutional 10th amendment issue. The federal government should allow the states to decide. Instead of following the constitution, President Obama had directed more medical marijuana dispensary raids in California.

As a 10th amendment issue, the state of California will be able to test the bounds of an overbearing federal government.