Arkady's Thoughts

Below is an interview of Ron Paul on CNBC.  Steve Leisman is his usual obnoxious and pretentious self, but that is only because he has no idea what the hell Paul is talking about.  This is probably the best I have seen Paul as he sticks to the talking points and covers a wide range of important issues.   He does however make the usual Paul-like commentary that I have written about before whereby he makes allegations that he KNOWS are controversial. In this case the subject matter is too defense for most people and most certainly for the CNBC staff so they let him slide, but when Paul asserts that reserve banking is fraudulent he is walking a fine a line.  Before the Great Depression, it would have been considered fraudulent only because the dollar was backed by gold.   People deposited the gold into banks and banks issued certificates granting the ability to withdraw the gold.  As the gold sat there, banks figured they could make loans assumin...

Unions will be an ongoing subject here at RightCondition because of their paramount importance and their ability to prolong recessions.  From an economic standpoint unions prolong damage by refusing to cooperate on wages and by creating unbearable entitlements for companies.  Wage cooperation is the primary source of frustration because union bosses historically will never negotiate for lower pay even in the face of a contracting economy.  Even though our central bank is trying to inflate and expand our way out of yet another much needed contraction, deflationary pressures are visible throughout the business sector.  When credit dries up, as we have seen recently with banks refusing to lend, due to oversupply of goods (despite federal government trying to intervene), businesses must contract.  An oversupply of merchandise drives prices lower and businesses are forced to curtail production.  By curtailing production they dispose of investments and labor is...

This is a table of October's financial breakdown.  Top section is the receipts (income via taxes) and lower section is the government spending. Full report available from the Treasury. As you can see, 135 billion was brought in and 311 billion was spent.   October's deficit is now at: 176 billion!!  This is the 5th worst performance this year so far in total debt, 4th worst performance in terms of revenues and 4th worst in terms of outlays. Looking at the numbers, several things jump out. National debt:  We paid out almost 22.8 billion in interest alone!  That is more than we spend on veterans. National defense: We spent 67 billion on national defense.  This has grown too fast and MUST be scaled down.  We need to start closing down bases and seriously contemplate withdrawing from Afghanistan. (20 billion of this on operation/maintenance alone) Social Security:  65 billion. Department of health: 85 billion, although there is abou...

You read the title correctly.  One of the most liberal and misguided papers in America reported, not opined, reported on fraud involving job creation with stimulus money.  Somebody pinch me, this cannot be happening.  Have the intoxicating effects of the Kool-Aid begun to wear off or did near bankruptcy jog some reporter's brains?  Either way, this is a refreshing and welcoming article and one that should make any citizen of not only my state, but ALL states to be outraged and upset.  Before we examine the investigation, let me preface by saying that the 787 stimulus package more affectionately known around these parts as screwulus or porkulus was a disaster from the get to.  This is not hindsight talking, but rather common sense.  Many right of center and libertarian bloggers were outraged that the same practices that failed in the Great Depression were being implemented again on such a massive scale.  Our outrage only mounted upon discovering ...

With Jim Bunning's decision not to run again, Kentucky's senate seat could be an interesting race.  While this seat should go to Republicans, the outcome of the primary could play a role here.  Rand Paul (yes, son of Ron Paul) - Opposes the bailouts - Wants to cut the military budget - Wants to ban lobbying for companies with contracts exceeding 1 million dollars.   - Sees inflation as a major threat - Critical of Bush's Medicare and no-child-left-behind programs as examples of Federal expansion. - Supports term limits - Supports auditing the Fed. - Wants to end subsidies for illegal immigrants, build electric fence. Trey Grayson - Wants to end/reverse the TARP - Opposes the bailouts, cash for clunkers - Supports auditing the Fed. - Supports GOP health reform proposal . - Wishes to co-sponsor a bill to amend the Constitution to match spending to revenue. - Support permanent repeal of the estate tax or “death tax” and the AMT - Fight anchor babies, bette...

Dan Mitchell of CATO who I generally like despite his advocacy of trickle-down and Laffer curve economics (Keynesian) does a nice and simple job of explaining the underpinnings behind the "health care reform".  Do watch and pass it along to those people who fail to understand that massive federal programs always miss their fiscal projections and expand to the point of becoming catastrophic liabilities.  While I do not oppose in principle the idea of Medicaid, that is catastrophic coverage for low income families, it has far exceeded it's original intention in both coverage and cost and now has to be either cut by 90% or ended.  We need to stop being a nation of "government should help us in times of need" and start being a nation of "government should enforce our natural rights, liberty and property".  At this point, whether liberal or conservative we must unite in understanding that our deficits will destroy this nation.  Ultimately we can set as...

A piece on the Examiner about Umass's invitation of human garbage .  We all know that Amherst is a liberal bastion, but even liberals have their limits.