Anything Less Than Full Disclosure is Unacceptable

By Ron Paul

Last week a new bill was introduced in the Senate to audit the Federal Reserve. Some backers of my bill HR1207 and the existing Senate companion bill S.604 were a little miffed at this, but depending on how you think about it, this new legislation poses no great threat to our efforts.

With the economy in shambles, people are looking for answers - not just because of lost savings on Wall Street, but because of lost houses on Main Street. Because of the many problems we face, the Federal Reserve and its powers over the economy have come under scrutiny. This translates into a lot of political pressure on Congress. With all the House Republicans signed on as co-sponsors and over half of the Democrats, HR 1207 has enormous bipartisan support. It would be disingenuous for Washington not to embrace the principles behind this bill after all the promises for transparency. How can one credibly argue for more transparency in government in one breath and defend the secrecy of the Federal Reserve in the next?

However, there is still very powerful resistance to the disclosures that HR 1207 would require and efforts to weaken it will continue to pop up before this issue is settled.

The good news is that Washington is responding and the Federal Reserve has become the issue. Concerned Americans need to keep the pressure on by continuing to define what we want, and what we do not want.

How We Win

by Heather D

Over the weekend we witnessed the continued assault on our Constitution, and liberty in general, when the Democrat majority in the House rallied their troops, twisted (or nearly broke) some arms and passed "The Affordable Health Care for America Act". If you are anything like me, you sat glued to your television set, intently watching C-Span, knowing in the pit of your stomach that Speaker Pelosi would never have brought the bill to the floor if she did not have the votes to pass it.

Some in this country want to believe that the assault on our rights will be stopped simply by replacing the Democratic majority with Republicans. These well-meaning Americans do not understand that establishment Republicans of today are merely Democrat-lite. They preach limited government out of one side of their mouth, yet vote for bigger government and less freedom, seeking more power for themselves and satisfying their most generous donors, dismantling the Constitution in the same manner as the Democrats that they claim to stand in opposition to.

One shining example of this is Senator Lindsey Graham, who has launched a very public war against Ron Paul, Ron Paul Republicans, and in reality, any Republican who supports the Republican platform, rather than paying lip service to it. Senator Graham recently teamed up with Senator John Kerry in an Op-Ed proclaiming the need for cap and trade policies, despite the fact that the bill would serve no real purpose other than to transfer wealth to a few and further destroy an economy that is already imploding. After a public outcry over this, it remains unclear where Senator Graham stands on this dastardly bill, but you can be certain that the danger of this legislation becoming law is still very real.

The Myth of Objective Journalism

By Jack Hunter

The Obama administration's decision to treat Fox News as a political opponent rather than a viable news outlet has angered many conservatives. Not I. Fox News is not and never has been "objective journalism." But neither is MSNBC, CNN, or every other corporate outlet that disseminates politically-biased disinformation.

It's no secret that Obama and Fox have long been "ready to rumble," so why not finally remove the blinders and the gloves so that Fox can get to their business, unfettered, of beating this administration into a bloody pulp?

Which is exactly what MSNBC, CNN, and every other liberal news outlet should have done to the last president. For all the bad press conservatives complained about Bush getting from the liberal media, where in the hell was any hard-nosed journalism leading up to the invasion of Iraq, when a more thorough investigation into the administration's allegations about WMDs and Saddam Hussein's alleged ties to Osama Bin Laden could have swayed public opinion, maybe preventing a costly and unnecessary war?

When former Bush White House press secretary Scott McClellan expressed regret in his recent book that the media had been too easy on the administration in the lead-up to the Iraq war, CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin explained her colleagues' failures, saying that the "press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war that was presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings." Favoring ratings over objective journalism? Who would do such a horrible thing?

They Can’t Push Us Around Forever

by State Rep. Susan Lynn (TN-57th)

The following is a letter from Tennessee to the other 49 State Legislatures

We send greetings from the Tennessee General Assembly. On June 23, 2009, House Joint Resolution 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution, was signed by Governor Phil Bredesen. The Resolution created a committee which has as its charge to:

• Communicate the resolution to the legislatures of the several states,
• Assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship,
• Call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government, and
• Seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.

It is for those purposes that this letter addresses your honorable body.

In 1776, our founding fathers declared our freedom in the magnificent Declaration of Independence; our guide to governance. They established a nation of free and independent states. Declaring that the purpose of our political system is to secure for its citizens’ their natural rights. The Constitution authorizes the national government to carry out seventeen enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 and the powers of several of the ensuing amendments.

Your Doctor Serves The State, Not You

by Michael Scott, MD

As a physician thoroughly frustrated with our State medical apparatus, I read a large number of opinion pieces and news articles on its perceived woes and proposals for its reform. Though I have read some excellent works on these pages and at the Mises Institute site, the majority found in the popular media reek of economic ignorance and worship of the State. Most private physicians knowingly groan when they encounter such garbage, and simply go about the business of their day caring for the sick in the often impossible system which they find themselves. In sharp contrast, many in academic medicine and professional societies such as the AMA cheer, spread it amongst their colleagues, and write additional State-supporting propaganda, the latest of which to come to my attention was the proverbial straw for this camel, and from which I include a particularly remarkable quote:

"It would be such a shame if we once again fail to cover the uninsured because of hang-ups over costs. Physician decisions drive the majority of expenditures in the US health care system. American health care costs will never be controlled until most physicians are no longer paid fees for specific services."