Lo que los bancos centrales no quieren que usted sepa por Charles Philbrook

Lo que los bancos centrales no quieren que usted sepa

 

por Charles Philbrook

 

Charles Philbrook es Director de Estudios Económicos, Datum Internacional, S.A.

A principios de junio, el proyecto de ley HR 1207 del congresista republicano por Texas Ron Paul, por el cual se busca auditar los libros contables de la Reserva Federal, logró reunir las firmas de otros 218 congresistas (“co-patrocinadores”), que como mínimo se requiere para que el mismo pueda ser debatido y sometido a votación ante el Pleno del Congreso. ¿Informó de esto el Wall Street Journal, el Financial Times, El País o el insalvablemente radicalizado Le Monde? ¿Están al tanto de que este proyecto, de pasar, en ambas cámaras, puede cambiar el curso de la historia económica de los EE.UU. y, por extensión, del mundo?

 

La probabilidad de que meses atrás Ron Paul pudiera conseguir ese número de firmas era cero o casi cero. Hoy es 100%. ¿Cómo lo hizo? En realidad, si bien es cierto que su persistencia fue crucial, lo que hoy es un triunfo histórico no hubiera pasado de ser otro quijotesco sueño, esta vez el de un libertario estadounidense perdido en el congreso, de no ser por la inesperada ayuda que le ha dado la evolución de los eventos en la política económica global.

 

Uno de éstos—en orden cronológico—es el hecho de que desde que la crisis económica se manifiesta, en la segunda mitad del 2007, la Reserva Federal ha creado una serie de programas de rescate para el sector financiero y ello ha llevado a que sus pasivos explícitos—“en libros”—aumenten casi tres veces y a que aquéllos que son potenciales o implícitos—“fuera de libros”—lo hagan en más de diez veces (unos US$ 9 millones de millones, que equivale a un 70% del PBI estadounidense).

 

Quienes desinformadamente afirman que la crisis está llegando a su fin, ignoran que el edificio financiero no ha colapsado porque una buena cantidad de columnas, o de programas creados por la Reserva (en libros contables y fuera de éstos), sirve de sustentación a toda la estructura crediticia en la economía, y si éstas fuesen retiradas, todo se desmoronaría en un santiamén. ¿Adónde ha ido a parar todo ese dinero? ¿Cuáles fueron los términos bajo los cuales se concedieron estos recursos? No hace mucho, un miembro del Comité de Servicios Financieros del congreso estadounidense, el demócrata Alan Grayson, le hizo éstas y otras preguntas a la inspectora general de la Reserva Federal, Elizabeth Coleman, y su respuesta a una y otra fue un “No sé, no sé, no recuerdo”. Y que recuerde es lo que persigue este proyecto.

 

Podría uno pensar que esta falta de transparencia del banco central en sus asuntos monetarios es algo anatemizado en democracia, después de todo, ahí donde la luz no llega crecen las excrecencias fungosas que viven de las materias orgánicas en descomposición. En fin, el hecho es que esto no se materializaba en votos.

 

Pero la falta de transparencia, de luz en la información del tema contable, y unas declaraciones en mayo de este año del secretario de la Tesorería de EE.UU., Tim Geithner, y otras de la canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, parecen haber sido más que suficiente para que la mayoría de los representantes en la cámara baja pongan su firma en este proyecto, la Ley de Transparencia de la Reserva Federal.

 

Las declaraciones de Geithner, en el programa de Charlie Rose de PBS, llevó a que elWall Street Journal, en una nota que tituló “Geithner’s Revelation”, empezara informando así: “La tierra se detuvo, el mar se abrió y un representante de la clase política estadounidense admitió, la semana pasada, que la Reserva Federal contribuyó a que se produjera el colapso financiero”. Geithner, si uno lee todo el artículo, no sólo responsabilizaba por la crisis al banco central de los EE.UU., sino a todos los bancos centrales del mundo. Textualmente, dice: “[L]a política monetaria en el mundo fue demasiado expansiva por demasiado tiempo. Y eso produjo un gran boom en el precio de los activos [financieros]”.

 

Y si demasiado dinero por demasiado tiempo produjo la crisis, Geithner dixit, ¿a quién en su sano juicio se le puede ocurrir que más de lo mismo es la panacea a todos nuestros problemas financieros? Lo que nos conduce a un provocador discurso que Merkel dio semanas después en Berlín y que la revista BusinessWeek extracta magistralmente bajo el título “Merkel da de latigazos a los bancos centrales”. En él, entre otras cosas, lamenta que el Banco Central Europeo haya cedido a las presiones internacionales y haya empezado, al igual que su par en EE.UU., a monetizar deuda privada, ya no sólo deuda pública, y, en un acto inusual en un jefe de Estado —criticar abiertamente, en público, a estos monopolistas del dinero, que tanto daño le han hecho a la economía global—, les pide que pongan fin a sus políticas monetarias no convencionales, de lo contrario, éstas terminarán haciendo “más daño que bien”.

 

Merkel, Ron Paul y tantos otros entienden algo que el presidente estadounidense James Garfield comprendió hace más de cien años: “Quien controla el volumen del dinero es dueño absoluto de la industria y del comercio”. Lo que era corroborado por Nathan Rothschild, uno de los fundadores de la dinastía bancaria que lleva su nombre, quien con todo desparpajo aseguraba que no importaba quien ocupe el trono inglés, ya que aquél que controla la emisión de dinero, somete al Imperio. “Y yo controlo esa emisión”, revelaba. Sometamos a los Rothschild: auditemos a todos los bancos centrales. Llevemos la luz ahí donde no llega, de una buena vez por todas. Que sea nuestro legado institucional a los que vienen detrás, y se merecen algo mejor a lo que nos dejaron quienes iban por delante.

 

http://www.elcato.org/node/4555

Libertarians, Conservatives, and Liberals

For those that don’t know about history… Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals
2. Conservatives

3. Libertarians

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q’s and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. Those became known as “girlie-men.” Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, college professors, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living. Conservatives love their country no matter what.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.  Liberals sometimes love other countries more than their own.

Here ends today’s lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.

 

A Libertarian reveals the best of both worlds with less government intervention in the affairs of people, more responsibility in personal life, self reliance, being achieve dreams, and express your opinions without the use of violence.

 

The conservatives and liberals believe that big government justifies the means.

 

A Libertarian would publish this in his blog.

SUPPORT THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY!

Confronting Fascist Socialism in America with an Agape and Freedom Agenda German Muñoz Ph.D.

Confronting Fascist Socialism in America

with an Agape and Freedom Agenda

German Muñoz Ph.D.

7/31/2009

german.munoz@mdc.edu

www.drgermanmunoz.com

 

Fascist Socialists have taken control of major political, economic, and cultural institutions in America. The push is coming from Big Government (see Democratic Socialists of America and the Congressional Progressive Caucus), Big Business, and Big Labor, and with the intellectual cover up by Big Academia, Big Media, and Big Hollywood. This is an elite-driven, corrupt, power-hungry operation hiding behind a charade of tolerance, compassion and democracy for the masses.

They have several goals. The first is to liquidate the Judeo-Christian world-view from the public square through the discrimination and persecution of Christians. The second is to undermine basic principles of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution of the United States so they can concentrate political power in Washington. The third goal is to weaken the national sovereignty of the United States of America so they can transfer powers to ideologically-friendly global institutions such20as the United Nations (UN). And the fourth goal is to sabotage America’s free market economy so bureaucrats and politicians can replace entrepreneurs and consumers as the masters of the economy.

In summary, the Fascist Socialist coalition seeks the abolition of America. They are religious atheists who are as gods unto themselves. Their church is the state. Everything including truth, traditions, science, and the family must genuflect before it. Good is whatever or whomever gives them power, and bad is anything or anyone in opposition. They believe the end justifies the means. Their sacramental grace is other peoples’ money which the Fascist Socialists use to buy additional political power. They love debt, collecting taxes, and controlling lives. They are great corrupters promising Americans “free” goods. Legislation is pushed quickly so no one can read it. They tend to be thin-skinned, intolerant, deceitful, secretive, power-driven and confrontational.

The following proposals are a response to their agenda by promoting an America that is more loving, free, fair, independent, and prosperous.

Cultural-Educational

•        Above all, love and serve God, Who is not a respecter of people, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, including our enemies.

•        Affirm the principles of the Declaration of Independence, which include the belief in a Creator who is the source of such inalienable rights as life, liberty, and the personal (not collective) pursuit of happiness.

•        Teach that human life has an intrinsic and absolute value which does not depend on its social  utility, on its attractiveness , or on the decadent, pagan opinions of some judges,  including those in the Supreme Court.

•        Keep America a republic whose Constitution, and not Islamic sharia law, the UN, or other legal concoction, is the Law of the Land, and whose principle of dynamic equilibrium ensures that federal power is restrained through separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, a Bill of Rights, among other restrictions.

•        Strengthen good, loving families for they are a source of personal and social happiness, of high educational and economic achievement, and overall national pr osperity.

•        Allow parents the freedom to send their children to the school of their choice: public, parochial, private, charter, or home schools, using the money allocated to them by the taxpayers.

•        Cancel subscriptions to newspapers and magazines as well as advertisement for most do not have ideological balance, fairness, and journalistic ethics in their coverage.

•        Boycott any movie from Hollywood which demeans the human person thro ugh loveless sex and violence, and which attacks our Judeo-Christian traditions.

•        Abolish all hate-speech legislation for free people should not criminalize thoughts and words, but only actions.

•        Emphasize our common humanity (university) more than our diversity.

Political-Economic

•&nb sp;       < /SPAN>Prevent the government from taking over and wrecking our health care system as it has done with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security which are broke and have over $150 billions in fraud, a government which will abandon the old, the sick, and the terminally ill, as it has the unborn.

•        Reform the health care system to ensure competition, quality, portability, family control of health care, private health insurance, access, private health savings accounts, personal responsibility, a place for alternative medicine, increase in the supply of nurses and doctors, and a reduction in frivolous medical malpractice litigation.

•        Cre ate national legislation to prohibit partisa n and ideological activities in institutions such as schools, colleges, universities, community organizations, and others, which receive federal funding.

•        Keep the secret ballot in union elections, promote right-to-work laws, the right to work without being part of a union, and begin to reduce the relative importance of unions in the public sector by incorporating into the bargaining process other groups such as taxpayer’s leagues.

•        Make the Federal Reserve System more transparent in the way it expands the money supply or abolish it, finding a new way to tie the expansion of the money supply to the growth of the economy.

•        Get the U.S. government out of the private sector.

•        Stop all politicized government bailouts of individuals, businesses, and labor unions so that people learn to pay for their own mistakes, and so that economic excesses and debt can be self-corrected.

•        Eliminate all government subsidies to private energy corporations to let entrepreneurs innovate and compete in the energy field.

•        Vote out of power politicians unwilling to move to a balanced budget and debt reduction, and who voted for the “cap and trade” legislation which will make it impossible to achieve energy independence and the revival of American industry.

•        Grow the economy by creating a payroll tax credit to help small businesses, by reducing the business tax rate, by abolishing taxes on capital gain, by ending the death tax, and by replacing the Marxist and Communist Manifesto-inspired progressive income tax with a flat tax.

•        Bring back usury laws and better regulation of the mortgage industry

 

Global

•        Do not allow into the United States the immigration of Muslims who believe that infidels should be killed (Koran 9:5), that Christians and Jews should be fought and made to feel humiliated (Koran 9:29), that Muslims who leave their faith should be punished or killed (Koran 2:39,2:85,3:106,3:85,4:89,9:73-74,16:106,47:25-28), that friendships with Jews and Christians are not to be allowed (Koran 3:28,5:51,9:23), that Muslims should be unmerciful toward infidels (Koran 5:36-8,48:29), and who believe that Muslims and America should be ruled by Shariah Law.

• &n bsp;      Promote free trade only with free and friendly countries while imposing tariffs on American corporations producing goods in tyrannical states and then exporting them to America.

•        Pass legislation prohibiting lobbyists from energy producing countries and from countries hostile to the United States from influencing Congress.

•        Take economic, legal and military steps to ensure that legal immigration is the only way to enter the country, and that only legals can become citizens, while permitting som e benefits to non-violent illegals, short of citizenship.

The time is very late for saving America from the Fascist Socialists and from those among us who have been too busy enjoying its harvest planted by previous generations to protect and enlarge its freedoms. This imperfect but remarkable land of liberty and opportunity can only be saved by God’s love (agape), and by those willing to follow His will and love each other enough to discipline, support and empower their neighbors as free and moral beings

Libertarians decry Blue Dog deal on government-controlled health care Revised bill is ‘delayed-onset government control’

8/4/2009

Contact: Donny Ferguson, Director of Communications

 

E-mail: donny.ferguson@lp.org

 

Phone: 703-200-3669, 202-333-0008 x. 225

 

 

 

Libertarians decry Blue Dog deal on government-controlled health care

Revised bill is ‘delayed-onset government control’

 

 

WASHINGTON — America’s third largest party Tuesday criticized Blue Dog Democrat Caucus leaders for finalizing a deal with party leadership on a September vote on the proposed health care reform bill before heading back to their districts to meet with constituents.

 

The compromise claims to remove some costs, reduce the employer mandate requirements to provide health care to employees and change the so-called “public option” in the initial draft of the bill in exchange for an agreement to hold a vote when Congress reconvenes in September.  Libertarians point out the deal is simply “delayed-onset government control” as the offensive provisions will simply be added once the bill is passed.

 

“This compromise makes the eventual government control of your health care even more likely,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.  “Congress wants to make it look like government-controlled health care is off the table so they can just get something passed.  Once it’s law, all it takes is a few quick amendments to get the government-controlled system they wanted all along.  It’s delayed-onset government control.”

 

“Don’t be fooled by the crocodile tears of the Progressive Caucus.  Their objections are meant to make it look like their wildly unpopular plans to eliminate private health insurance are dead. They know this deal makes the elimination of private insurance even more of a reality by making it easier to pass the bill,” said Ferguson.

 

Blue Dogs also claim credit for loosening employer mandates. The original draft included language requiring employers with a payroll over $100,000 to provide health insurance to employees. The compromise increases that threshold to $500,000.

 

“Every employer in America knows what’s going to happen because it’s happened with every other bill.  They’ll claim defeat so the looser mandate can pass, then once it’s law amend one number to get what they wanted all along,” said Ferguson.

 

“There are many problems with our current health care system, but this compromise still leads to a government-run health care system that maximizes what’s wrong with the current system and eradicates what works,” said Ferguson.

 

“Libertarians aren’t fooled, and neither are the millions of independent voters who live in Democrat districts.  More and more Americans are finding out the devilish details of this plan and they’ll hold accountable on Election Day anyone who supports it,” said Ferguson. “The only way to make health care affordable and universally available is to defeat this bill entirely.  Then we can start brand new negotiations on solutions that work,” said Ferguson.

 

The Libertarian Party is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties.  You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting

http://www.LP.org.

 

The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Los Gobiernos de Washington, La Habana, y Caracas

Insulza, OEA, ONU, y los Gobiernos del Continente Americano

The Hypocrisy of USA

Everytime the USA celebrates its Independence Day, the Democrats and Republicans love to give speeches extolling the virtues of Anerica, The last Independence Day was no exception.

President Barack Obama [Democrat] talked about the challenges including clean air and health care. Senator John Mc Cain [Republican] delivered his rebuttal by saying that the birth of the United States generated the “birth of right and wrong” and commented about a “moral obligation to Iran and its freedom”. I have decided to give a Libertarian response to the US Governing Elite Independence Day Speech.

The Governing Elite of the USA appears to talk about a “moral right” to “export” its “version of liberty and democracy” without practicing it at home. They condemn Iran, North Korea, and Honduras for a lack of democracy without taking into account that both parties violated the US Constitution [while the constitution in Honduras as remains intact].

Both parties have also discriminated against other political parties in the political arena. During the 2008 US Presidential Elections, Bob Barr who was the Libertarian Party Candidate for President complied with all of the requitements to be on the Texas Ballot before the deadline. The Republicans and Democrats failed to qualify because of the rules yet they were placed on the ballot in Texas.

The Green Party have also complained of discrimination in New Hampshire , Tennessee, and Florida. It is easy to dismiss alternative parties as “wasted votes” and the need to “vote for the lesser of the two evils”. I also recognize that at times the alternative parties have trouble getting their message across because of lack of effective speakers or the message is lost in the area of public discourse.

I have to ask myself the following question:

1. If the ruling elite think that a vote for an alternative party is a wasted vote and that there is the lesser of two evils, why do they take the pain to enact laws that favour them and exclude others?

The answer is that the Republicans and Democrats exist only to gain and maintain power at any cost. They are not in favour of the USA or its people. It appears that the ruling elite wants to bleed the USA culturally and economically. They and their followers cannot stand competition including those who favour less government, more personal responsibility, no interference in the affairs of other countries, and tolerance.

If the governing elite in the USA wants to present itself as an example of human rights, freedom, and democracy, they should practice it at home and allow others to scrutinize the process. If they are unable to do so, they should remain silent instead of being hypocritical about democracy, freedom, right, and wrong.

 

 

 

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Libertarians remind Obama of his “firm pledge” not to tax health care benefits

6/30/2009

Contact: Donny Ferguson, Director of Communications

 

E-mail: donny.ferguson@lp.org

Phone: 703-200-3669, 202-333-0008 x. 225

 

 

Libertarians remind Obama of his “firm pledge” not to tax health care benefits

 

President considering backing what he called the “biggest middle-class tax increase in history”

 

 

WASHINGTON — America’s third largest party Tuesday reminded President Barack Obama that supporting a proposed $246 billion tax on employer-provided health care benefits – a proposal he opposed as “the biggest middle-class tax increase in history” in campaign ads – would break his promise to oppose any form of tax increase on families making less than $250,000 a year.

 

“In September of 2008, candidate Barack Obama asked Americans to read his lips and that he would oppose any tax increase whatsoever on families making less than $250,000 a year, or any proposal to tax employer-provided health care benefits” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.  “Now President Obama is prepared to once again break that tax promise by considering a new tax on health benefits, which he admitted last year would be ‘the largest middle-class tax increase in history.’”

 

Obama has already embraced tax hikes on the middle class through his $1.9 trillion “cap and trade” energy tax and new tobacco taxes and is now considering a proposed European-style “value-added” national sales tax. According to The New York Times, the Congressional Budget Office finds including health benefits in taxable income could mean $246 billion in additional revenue for a single year.

 

In a Sunday appearance on ABC’s This Week, hosted by formerClinton adviser George Stephanopoulos, White House adviser David Axelrod admitted Obama was considering supporting new taxes on families’ employer-provided benefits.  Obama attacked the idea as “the largest middle-class tax increase in history” when it was proposed by Senator John McCain during the 2008 campaign. 

 

“I can make a firm pledge,” then-candidate Obama told a Dover, N.H. crowd, on Sept. 12, 2008. “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

 

The Obama campaign repeated the pledge at other forums. “No one making less than $250,000 under Barack Obama’s plan will see one single penny of their tax raised,” vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said in the Oct. 2, 2008 vice-presidential debate, “whether it’s their capital gains tax, their income tax, investment tax, any tax.”

 

“Libertarians unequivocally oppose any tax on employer-provided health benefits, and we’ll hold accountable any candidate who supports such a tax hike on families,” said Ferguson.  “Once again, the Libertarian Party is the only party standing up for working families.  Our health care system needs reform, but massive tax hikes and Obama’s proposed government takeover would simply take the worst aspects of the current system and magnify them.” For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.

 

The Libertarian Party is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties.  You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.

Para La Clase Gobernante del Continente Americano incluyendo a los Socialistas del Siglo XXI, Los Democratas, y Republicanos/ For the Governing Class of the American Continent Including Castro, Chavez, Zelaya, Ortega, Correa, Morales, Republicans, and Democrats

 

No respetare a los politicos mediocres.

Libertarians Say No To Koh and Gun Control

6/23/2009

Contact: Donny Ferguson, Director of Communications

 

E-mail: donny.ferguson@lp.org

Phone: 703-200-3669, 202-333-0008 x. 225

 

 

 

 

Libertarians urge “no” vote on $1.9 trillion Waxman-Markey tax hike

 

Pelosi hopes to rush tax hike to a vote this week

 

 

WASHINGTON — America’s third largest party urged the U.S. House Tuesday to defeat plans for a $1.9 trillion energy tax hike over eight years.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to rush H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, to a vote this week.

 

“With unemployment rising above and beyond what President Obama said it would be with the multi-hundred billion dollar stimulus bill, now is not the time to dismantle our economy with a multi-hundred billion dollar energy tax hike,” said William Redpath.

 

“Libertarians urge House members to defeat this job-killing tax hike on Americans,” said Redpath.  “Libertarian candidates are out there every day proposing proven solutions to create the jobs we need and restore our prosperity.  This $1.9 trillion tax hike would destroy millions of jobs and impose dramatically higher prices for everything.”

 

At nearly 1,000 pages, H.R. 2454, sponsored by Democrat Reps. Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, imposes new taxes on anyeconomic activity that produces carbon dioxide. Pelosi hopes to rush the bill to a vote, despite no net temperature increase globally over the last decade, significant research showing man-made carbon dioxide isn’t changing the climate and opposition from thousands of scientists.

 

The economic impact would be harsh.  According to research from the independent, non-partisan Heritage Foundation, the bill would have devastating impacts on the average American family.

 

The research found that by 2035, gasoline prices would increase 58 percent, natural gas prices would increase 55 percent, prices for home heating oil would increase 56 percent, and worst of all, electricity prices would jump 90 percent.

 

While the average American would pay the tax once in the form of higher energy prices, they also pay it again in higher costs for goods that must be manufactured and services that must be provided using energy. 

 

The average family of four could see $2,979 in higher prices per year, paying $4,609 more in 2035 alone. The total costs to the average family in higher prices, from 2012 to 2035, reach $71,493.

 

The bill would also destroy millions of jobs, even taking into account Obama administration promises of new “green” jobs.  The research finds an average annual job loss of 1,145,000 jobs per year because of Waxman-Markey. In the worst years, 2,479,000 Americans will lose their jobs annually under Waxman-Markey.

 

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.

 

6/23/2009

Contact: Donny Ferguson, Director of Communications

 

E-mail: donny.ferguson@lp.org

Phone: 703-200-3669, 202-333-0008 x. 225

 

 

 

Libertarians recommend Senate defeat Koh nomination

 

Obama nominee to negotiate treaties says U.S. must adopt “global gun control”

 

 

WASHINGTON — America’s third largest party Tuesday recommended the Senate defeat the nomination of Harold Koh to be State Department legal adviser, citing a history of opposition to gun rights and national sovereignty.

 

“The State Department legal adviser is supposed to protect our national sovereignty in treaty negotiations and negotiate pacts that uphold the Constitution and protect Americans’ rights.  Under no circumstances should the Senate confirm someone who believes the Constitution should give way to what he calls ‘the global rules,’” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.

 

“That alone disqualifies him from representing the United States in treaty negotiations,” said Ferguson.

 

If confirmed, Koh would play a major role in negotiating treaties such as the proposed “Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials” (CIFTA.)

 

The treaty — backed by Obama and Koh — requires all guns to be marked and tracked by the government.  Obama has urged the Senate to adopt it.

 

In a lecture titled “A World Drowning In Guns,” reprinted in the May 2003 “Fordham Law Review,” Koh praised CIFTA as “thebest model” for international gun control.

 

More troubling, Koh claims it requires signers “to standardize national laws,” that “the only meaningful mechanism to regulate illicit transfers is stronger domestic regulation,” and that “control measures within the United States” must be adopted.

 

In the lecture, Koh urges the creation of “a global system of effective controls on small arms and light weapons” and a “global gun control regime,” specifically targeting the kinds of weapons many persecuted peoples must own to protect themselves from aggression.  He blames international violence and the rising numbers of refugees, not armed governments, but on “men with guns.”

 

Koh’s solution?  Strip people of their guns and trust weapons to the corrupt governments often responsible for the very violence Koh cites.

 

Koh has also repeatedly demanded the United States submit to “transnational legal processes” and “transnational jurisprudence,” in which laws intended to protect our national sovereignty and constitutional rights could be overruled by international authorities.

 

That clashes sharply with the Libertarian Party, who upholds both the Second Amendment and the United States’ national sovereignty.

 

“Libertarians believe that what makes America safe and free are our constitutional rights and our hard-fought freedoms.  While the Constitution guarantees those freedoms from infringement by our federal government, it is now up to the Senate to protect that Constitution from other countries who view our constitutional freedoms as deviations that must be eliminated through the kinds of treaties and global laws Koh has promised to fight for,” said Ferguson. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has scheduled a Wednesday vote on the Obama nominee, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Clinton Administration.

 

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.

 

The Libertarian Party is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties.  You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.