Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rep. Ron Paul: Bankruptcy could end U.S. debt.

Many Americans are not aware that the Federal Reserve is a private corporation that is not part of the U.S. In fact, it would be as if I created a company and loaned money to the U.S. and they had to pay it back to me with interest. It is unconstitutional as the U.S. Constitution is very specific that Congress is the only branch that can regulate money. And a branch cannot give its powers away. However, that is what has been done here and it's been going on since for approx. 90 years. Rep. Ron Paul is exactly right. Just cancel the debt. That would make America get out of its debt over night, and talking about a revival "economically" in this country. It would be like nothing we have ever seen before. We all should be getting behind Rep. Ron Paul for president. Read below.

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By Michael O'Brien

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday that bankruptcy could be the best solution for the United States to address its mounting debt.

Paul, the libertarian Republican presidential candidate, suggested that bankruptcy would be a good option — as would, short of that, refusing to repay obligations to the Federal Reserve.

During an appearance on Iowa's WHO radio, Paul, in a conversation about the debt crisis in Greece, called on that country to declare bankruptcy, reasoning that the Greek debt was insurmountable and thus that the country could not avoid bankruptcy.

"Are we going to experience — are you predicting, in essence, if bankruptcy is the cure for Greece, is it also the cure for the United States?" asked host Jan Mickelson.

"Absolutely," Paul responded.

The Texas congressman has been a longtime critic of fiscal and monetary policy in the U.S. Paul has called for allowing gold and silver currency to compete openly with the U.S. dollar. He said he wasn't dreading the potential default on U.S. debt in early August because, in his view, the U.S. was constantly defaulting due to inflation-related devaluation of the dollar.

One solution, Paul said, would be to eliminate the Federal Reserve, and in turn, wipe out the debts owed to the Fed.


"I know this is pretty strange for people to even think about this — but you know, we owe, like, $1.6 trillion because the Federal Reserve bought that debt, so we have to work hard to pay that interest to the Federal Reserve. They're nobody; why do we have to pay them off?" he asked. "Why don't we just take that away from them and reduce the debt by one and a half trillion dollars or whatever?"
The comments are nothing if not consistent for Paul, who's said that he won't vote to raise the debt limit. He said that he didn't actually expect fellow lawmakers to follow his lead and allow default, but that if the U.S. were to default on its obligations to the Fed, it "might reassure the bondholders."

Speaking in the key primary-cycle state of Iowa, Paul even suggested that the Chinese government had even become more capitalistic than the U.S. government.

"You could make the case today for China being a more capitalistic country than the United States," he said. "That's where our businesses are going; it's easier to start a business."

Thursday, June 16, 2011

See ya Weiner

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Embattled New York Rep. Anthony Weiner quit this afternoon, three weeks after the scandal about his Twitter pictures exploded.

The humiliated New York congressman took the stage in his Brooklyn office at 2.21 p.m. to announce the end of his 20-year political career. His news conference was over within four minutes. The fiery left-wing Democrat walked away without answering any questions.

His pregnant wife, Huma Abedin, who had returned yesterday from an overseas trip with her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was noticeably absent. She was spotted entering the couple’s home in the New York borough of Queens shortly before her husband made his announcement.

“I apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused to my neighbors, my constituents and particularly to my wife, Huma,” Weiner said.

Weiner took time to thank other members of Congress, “Democrats and Republicans alike,” adding, “Now I’ll be looking for other ways to contribute my talents so that we live up to that most New York and American of ideals. The ideal that a family, a community, and ultimately a country is the one thing that unites us.”

Weiner was heckled throughout his statement with crude comments from people who had infiltrated the news conference.

“I had hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district had elected me to do, to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it,” Weiner said. “Unfortunately, the distraction I have created has made that impossible.

“Today I am announcing my resignation from Congress, so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can choose a new representative, and most importantly, so that my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused.”

The 46-year-old congressman bowed to the inevitable after discussing his position with his wife, who returned to their Washington home early on Wednesday morning. He and Abedin have been married for less than a year.

According to ABC News, he informed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of his decision Wednesday night, the day before Democrats were to consider stripping him of his committee assignments.

Leading party members initially said it was up to him whether he should resign, but they changed their position as the scandal grew, with Pelosi and Whip Steny Hoyer both calling on him to step down. President Barack Obama also said that he would quit if he were in Weiner’s position.

Republicans, initially led by House leader Eric Cantor and later joined by Speaker John Boehner, also called on him to resign.

The House Ethics Committee formally opened an investigation to see whether he broke any House rules. That will now end as the committee only has powers over sitting members.

The Democrat’s embarrassing fall from grace over what became known as “Weinergate” brought to an end a sideshow that had embarrassed Congress. It started with a picture of a bulging pair of gray boxer briefs posted on Weiner’s Twitter page. The Democratic congressman had meant to send it to 21-year-old Seattle journalism student Gennette Cordova in a private message but mistyped and it went out to all 45,000 of his followers.

For 10 days he lied, saying his Twitter account had been hacked, before he finally confessed at a tearful news conference June 6 that he had sexted with six different women and lied to cover up his misdeeds. They included a porn star who claimed he had asked her to lie and had offered her public relations help.

He was further embarrassed when an X-rated picture of his genitals that he had sent one of the women was leaked on to the Internet and again when semi-nude pictures he had taken of himself in the House gym emerged.

Last weekend, Weiner, whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens, asked for a leave of absence from the House to enter rehab, but things continued to get worse for him when it was revealed that he also had been sending private messages to a 17-year-old in Delaware. There has been no suggestion that those messages were of a sexual nature.

Weiner is the second New York congressman to resign this year. Married Republican Christopher Lee quit in February after it was revealed he had sent a shirtless picture of to a woman who had posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a man.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Weiner Admits He Lied, But Won't Resign

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By Martin Gould

The sex scandal that has engulfed married Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner grew even more tawdry today — and generated suggestions that he should quit — amid new allegations that he sent out pictures and sexually explicit text messages to women.

However, Weiner rejected suggestions that he should resign during an emotional news conference this afternoon. He confessed to inappropriate texting and lying about it.

"I have made terrible mistakes," Weiner said, choking back tears and adding that he apologizes to his wife, colleagues, and friends.

Editor's note: For the updated story on the full news conference, including video — Click Here Now.

One of the pictures that surfaced today showed the bottom half of what appeared to be Weiner’s face above a naked chest. A second, seemingly innocent, shot showing Weiner sitting with his two cats had a caption dripping with double entendre.

But even more damaging to Weiner, who married Hillary Clinton’s long-time aide Huma Abedin in July, are the texts he is accused of sending a middle-aged woman in Nevada.

The combined effect is so great that Ronald Kessler, Newsmax’s chief Washington correspondent, says the New York congressman now should step down from his House seat.

“Representative Weiner has now lost all credibility,” Kessler said. “Can you imagine if George Bush had done anything like this?

“Given that he has engaged in shameful conduct and become a laughingstock, Weiner is left with no choice now but to resign.”

The double whammy could not have come at a worse time for the embattled congressman. The furor over the Memorial Day weekend “bulging shorts” Twitter picture sent to Seattle co-ed Genette Cordova was beginning to fade, and it appeared that he might have weathered the storm.

But now the release of the pictures on conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment website, followed almost immediately by the messages on the tabloid site RadarOnline, have reignited the whole issue.

The Nevada woman told Radar that she has about 200 explicit messages from Weiner’s now-closed Facebook account. In one online exchange, Weiner allegedly asked whether she wanted to see “a ridiculous bulge in my shorts,” and then said he was taking pictures of it. However, the woman says Weiner “got cold feet” and did not send the picture.

A second exchange between the woman and the congressman ended when the woman gave out her phone number and suggested that they should talk rather than text. Within minutes, Weiner called and they ended up having phone sex, she said. “We proceeded to talk dirty for at least 30 minutes,” she said.

A few days later, she tried to call on the number that Weiner had used, but got only a recorded message saying it was an outgoing Congress line.