===
Some truisms:
. In my many years I have come to a
conclusion that one useless man
conclusion that one useless man
is a shame, two is a law firm,
and three or more is a congress.
-- John Adams
I contend that for a nation to try to
tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and
trying to lift himself up by the
handle. --Winston Churchill
The inherent vice of capitalism is
the unequal sharing of the
blessings. The inherent blessing
of socialism is the equal sharing
of misery. -- Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to
pay Paul can always depend on
the support of Paul. -- George
Bernard Shaw
A liberal is someone who feels a
great debt to his fellow man,
which debt he proposes to pay off
with your money. -- G. Gordon
Liddy
. Foreign aid might be defined as a
transfer of money from poor
people in rich countries to rich
people in poor countries.
-- Douglas Case,
Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University.
Giving money and power to
government is like giving whiskey
and car keys to teenage boys.
-- P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
If you think health care is
expensive now, wait until you
see what it costs when it's free!
-- P. J. O'Rourke
I don't make jokes. I just watch
the government and report the
facts. -- Will Rogers (Could also be FOX News!)
Just because you do not take an
interest in politics doesn't mean
politics won't take an interest
in you! -- Pericles (430 B.C.)
The only difference between a
tax man and a taxidermist is that
the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-- Mark Twain
and finally:
A government big enough to give
you everything you want, is
strong enough to take everything
you have. -- Thomas Jefferson
===
I was told the listing of Executive Orders was inaccurate I did not check when I posted it in a previous memo. I am sorry for this error.
===
This from a very dear friend and Marine - Semper Fi::
"Hello Dick: Hope you are well, at least as well as a politically conscious person can be in these times.
Here’s a question, good for at least a six pack’s worth of discussion:
Which is worse, Obama’s domestic policy calamities, or his foreign policy blunders?
I used to think, after the back-to-back disastrous presidencies of LBJ and Nixon, that this had to be strong country to withstand so much misgovernment. Well, O-Boy has topped them, and I’m not as sure about the country. So many things are going the wrong way, in a broader and deeper sense than the merely political.
I am impressed by your energy and your engagement, and by your loyalty to sound principles. We all do what we can, but the tides against us are very strong. My kids are 29, and I can’t imagine what this country will look like when they’re my age.
Keep on fighting!
Sig"
===
A Duke University professor dukes it out with The Fed! (See 1 below.)
===
DUH! (See 2 and 2a below.)
===
Conservatives, in seeking the 'vaginal vote' are warned by Krauthammer to stay away from libido talk.
Conservatives have most of the white 'vasectomy vote' but they have proven more than capable of losing just when they should be winning.
Republicans seem to have a death wish at campaign time. (See 3 below.)
===
DUH! (See 2 and 2a below.)
===
Conservatives, in seeking the 'vaginal vote' are warned by Krauthammer to stay away from libido talk.
Conservatives have most of the white 'vasectomy vote' but they have proven more than capable of losing just when they should be winning.
Republicans seem to have a death wish at campaign time. (See 3 below.)
===
Dick
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1)Duke Professor Campbell Harvey: Fed's QE 'Massively' Distorts Economy
The Federal Reserve's quantitative easing (QE) program is damaging for the economy, says Campbell Harvey, an international business professor at Duke University's business school.
"I don't agree that there should be a QE whatsoever," Harvey told Newsmax TV's "America's Forum." "It is massively distorting for the U.S. and the world economy to have real interest rates that are negative."
The low rates created by QE have pushed the dollar down, distorting trade flows and misallocating resources, Harvey says. "We've seen a surge in [U.S.] exports," he notes. "The reason for the surge is that the U.S. dollar is artificially cheap."
That works out fine for the short term, Harvey says. But, "in the long term, we will pay the price, because we're seeing right now growth rates in emerging markets slowing down," he said. "That will come back and bite the U.S."
The Fed doesn't need to have a $3 trillion balance sheet, Harvey says. "That is going to create problems in the future. So taper, actually, for me, I would prefer that they just end it and start to get their balance sheet in order. If we leave it, the longer it goes, the worse it's going to get."
Much attention is riveted on the size of Fed tapering. But, "what we should be focusing on" given the explosion of the Fed's balance sheet and the continuation of negative real interest rates is "what about the cost?" Harvey said. "The cost is going to come, and it's just a matter of time that we have to pay."
When banks start to repatriate the more than $2 trillion that they have sitting at the Fed, that may lead to a burst of inflation, Harvey said. "That is the main challenge."
New Fed Chairman Janet Yellen has extremely little room to maneuver policy, Harvey says.
"Given that we've had a long tenure of [prior Chairman Ben] Bernanke, her calculus right now is to continue on the path that is set out, have a minimal amount of surprise [and] hope that the U.S. economy continues to grow at 3 percent or 3 percent-plus," he said.
Growth is the only escape from such a huge balance sheet, Harvey says. "So if there's enough growth, that balance sheet can be gradually reduced without having an inflationary impact," he said.
"If that growth slows and that money is repatriated, it is like a helicopter drop of cash on the economy, and there could be explosive inflation."
Meanwhile, if you assume gold should have a constant inflation-adjusted value over time, it should fall to $800 an ounce Harvey says.
In addition, gold may suffer from a resumption of the rise in U.S. long-term interest rates, he says. April gold futures stood at $1,257.90 on the Comex early Wednesday afternoon.
"You want to sell it before it goes to $800," Harvey said.
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2)Iran moves forward; U.S. is stuck
More reports confirm that Iran's uranium enrichment and other programs directed toward developing a nuclear weapon continue to move forward. The Free Beacon reports that ballistic missile development continues under the P5+1 agreement:
Under pressure from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), U.S. negotiator Wendy Sherman conceded that the U.S. failed to "shut down" Iran's ongoing development of ballistic missiles, which have long range capabilities and are the preferred weapon for delivering a nuclear payload.
"It is true that in these first six months we've not shut down all of their production of any ballistic missile that could have anything to do with delivery of a nuclear weapon," Sherman told lawmakers during a hearing on the nuclear deal. "But that is indeed something that has to be addressed as part of a comprehensive agreement."
"It is true that in these first six months we've not shut down all of their production of any ballistic missile that could have anything to do with delivery of a nuclear weapon," Sherman told lawmakers during a hearing on the nuclear deal. "But that is indeed something that has to be addressed as part of a comprehensive agreement."
Jennifer Rubin takes a pessimistic view of Pres. Obama's failure to back up the agreement with Iran with a statement of America's intended response (sanctions or other) if Iran does not comply with the agreement:
There are two frightful possibilities as to why the president hasn't said what he'd do if negotiations fail. First, he might not know. That is another way of saying he has no end game, no strategy and, therefore, no convincing argument to force Iran to capitulate. The other is that he knows precisely what he will do: Nothing. He's already made his decision to ease up on sanctions and commit himself to endless negotiations with a foe who has no incentive to give in. The latter is entirely consistent with his obvious pique with Israel and the U.S. Congress in suggesting what he is up to is a canard. Even worse, he may fear that Iran might leave even temporarily, forcing him to act or giving Israel a chance to act.
Iran’s nuclear head Ali Akbar Salehi says the country’s nuclear deal with world powers does not impose any restrictions on nuclear research.
“In fact, the best part of this joint action plan is the research part. It’s so clear that R&D has no constraint,” Salehi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), told Press TV in an exclusive interview.
He was referring to Iran’s accord with the six world powers – the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany – last November. The deal took effect on January 20.
Salehi, a former foreign minister, said Iran is developing a new generation of “advanced centrifuges.”
“We have a number of advanced centrifuges, which are under the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) supervision where they are being tested and uranium gas has been injected into it – of course, not for accumulation, it’s just for testing those centrifuges,” he said.
Salehi said centrifuges will have to run for “probably two years” before making sure that they “are performing well enough” to start mass production.
He dismissed allegations by US officials about having managed to dismantle half of the centrifuges running in Iran.
“Out of the 18,000 centrifuges that we have roughly, 9,000 of them are working, are functioning; and the other 9,000 we have voluntarily accepted not to inject gas into them,” he said.
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3)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and all politicians should stay away from using inflammatory words like "libido" that tend to get them in trouble, says Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post.
Krauthammer was referring to the ruckus Republican Huckabee made when he was accusing Democrats of pushing women to believe “they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government.”
"It's kind of a weird statement," Krauthammer told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV on Thursday.
"It was weird and we ought to make a list of words which Republicans should never speak. Why are we talking about libido? We should talk about policy. We talk about policy, we win."
But Krauthammer believes Huckabee was right, even if he didn't say it in a politically correct way.
"Democrats, basically he is saying, are always insisting on contraceptives because they believe that women need protection of the federal government to be able to control their own libido," he said.
"I know a lot of liberals, I've never heard one ever say that and I don't know one who ever thinks that. They don't think in those terms. If they make the case, then I give them the credit for this in terms of sincerity. It's usually because they think there are women who can't afford it and thus the government ought to provide it.
"It's the classic rule by law that if you need x because you can't afford it for whatever reason, the government ought to give you x as a freebie.
"But it's not because they think women's libido is out of control, if anything, that's a view that comes from Victorian times 100 years ago from other precincts . . . Huckabee simply got it wrong."
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3)
Krauthammer: Republicans Should Talk Policy, Not 'Libido'
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and all politicians should stay away from using inflammatory words like "libido" that tend to get them in trouble, says Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post.
Krauthammer was referring to the ruckus Republican Huckabee made when he was accusing Democrats of pushing women to believe “they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government.”
"It's kind of a weird statement," Krauthammer told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV on Thursday.
"It was weird and we ought to make a list of words which Republicans should never speak. Why are we talking about libido? We should talk about policy. We talk about policy, we win."
But Krauthammer believes Huckabee was right, even if he didn't say it in a politically correct way.
"Democrats, basically he is saying, are always insisting on contraceptives because they believe that women need protection of the federal government to be able to control their own libido," he said.
"I know a lot of liberals, I've never heard one ever say that and I don't know one who ever thinks that. They don't think in those terms. If they make the case, then I give them the credit for this in terms of sincerity. It's usually because they think there are women who can't afford it and thus the government ought to provide it.
"It's the classic rule by law that if you need x because you can't afford it for whatever reason, the government ought to give you x as a freebie.
"But it's not because they think women's libido is out of control, if anything, that's a view that comes from Victorian times 100 years ago from other precincts . . . Huckabee simply got it wrong."
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