25 Signs The Collapse Of America Is Speeding Up As Society Rots From The Inside Out

The problems that America is experiencing right now are not just confined to the field of economics. The truth is that there are signs of deep decay wherever we look, and without question the United States is rotting from the inside out in thousands of different ways. For a long time our debt-fueled prosperity has masked much of the social decay that has been festering underneath the surface, but now it is becoming increasingly apparent that the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted is beginning to disappear. For many Americans, it is easy to point a finger at a particular group or political party and blame them for all of our problems, but the reality of the matter is that our societal decay cuts across all income levels, all political affiliations and all regions of the country. We are being destroyed from within, and this decay can be seen on the streets of the most dilapidated sections of major U.S. cities and it can also be seen in the halls of power in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street. It is undeniable that something has fundamentally changed. The American people do not seem to possess the same level of character that they once had. So where do we go from here?

All over America the corn is dying. If drought conditions persist in the middle part of the country, wheat and soybeans will be next. Weeks of intense heat combined with extraordinarily dry conditions have brought many U.S. corn farmers to the brink of total disaster. If there is not significant rainfall soon, many farmers will be financially ruined. This period of time is particularly important for corn because this is when pollination is supposed to happen. But the unprecedented heat and the extremely dry conditions are playing havoc with that process. With each passing day things get even worse. We have seen the price of a bushel of corn soar 41 percent since June 14th. That is an astounding rise. You may not eat much corn directly, but it is important to realize that corn or corn syrup is just about in everything these days. Just look at your food labels. In the United States today, approximately 75 percent of all processed foods contain corn. So a huge rise in the price of corn is going to be felt all over the supermarket. Corn is also widely used to feed livestock, and if this crisis continues we are going to see a significant rise in meat and dairy prices as well. Food prices in America have already been rising at a steady pace, and so this is definitely not welcome news.

By Nathan Smith

Jose Antonio Vargas and others who have made their illegal status public are giving a face to millions, and turning undocumented immigration into a mass civil disobedience movement. Their movement has just seen its first victories.

A year and a half ago, I published a book, Principles of a Free Society, in which I defined civil disobedience as open, non-violent, principled defiance of a law which one wishes to see changed; argued that most illegal immigration does not qualify as civil disobedience because it is not open; and added that: “If illegal immigration in the United States does not yet constitute a mass civil disobedience movement, it is not far from it… A satyagraha approach [satyagraha, meaning 'clinging to the truth,' is Gandhi’s term for civil disobedience] might involve illegal immigrants openly advertising their status in order to court arrest and deportation.” (Principles of a Free Society, p. 129)

By Steve Conover

Four of the top issues the public says it cares about most—jobs, the budget deficit, Social Security, and Medicare—have something significant in common: Each one automatically improves when the economy does.

The Pew Research Center recently updated a study that should remove any lingering doubts about which topics the presidential campaigns will be covering—or perhaps evading, as the case may be—over the next four months. Their research reveals which policy areas the general public considers “top priority” for the president and Congress in 2012. The top ten priorities are shown in Figure 1 below.

by Murray N. Rothbard

[Day 17 of Robert Wenzel's 30-day reading list that will lead you to become a knowledgeable libertarian, this article is excerpted from Economic Controversies, chapter 21, "The Fallacy of the 'Public Sector'" (2011). It originally appeared in the New Individualist Review (Summer, 1961): 3–7.]

We have heard a great deal in recent years of the "public sector," and solemn discussions abound through the land on whether or not the public sector should be increased vis-à-vis the "private sector." The very terminology is redolent of pure science, and indeed it emerges from the supposedly scientific, if rather grubby, world of "national-income statistics." But the concept is hardly wertfrei; in fact, it is fraught with grave, and questionable, implications.
In the first place, we may ask, "public sector" of what? Of something called the "national product." But note the hidden assumptions: that the national product is something like a pie, consisting of several "sectors," and that these sectors, public and private alike, are added to make the product of the economy as a whole. In this way, the assumption is smuggled into the analysis that the public and private sectors are equally productive, equally important, and on an equal footing altogether, and that "our" deciding on the proportions of public to private sector is about as innocuous as any individual's decision on whether to eat cake or ice cream. The State is considered to be an amiable service agency, somewhat akin to the corner grocer, or rather to the neighborhood lodge, in which "we" get together to decide how much "our government" should do for (or to) us. Even those neoclassical economists who tend to favor the free market and free society often regard the State as a generally inefficient, but still amiable, organ of social service, mechanically registering "our" values and decisions.

by Henry Hazlitt

[Day 18 of Robert Wenzel's 30-day reading list that will lead you to become a knowledgeable libertarian, this article appears as chapter 6, "The Road to Totalitarianism," in On Freedom and Free Enterprise: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises (1956).]

In spite of the obvious ultimate objective of the masters of Russia to communize and conquer the world, and in spite of the frightful power which such weapons as guided missiles and atomic and hydrogen bombs may put in their hands, the greatest threat to American liberty today comes from within. It is the threat of a growing and spreading totalitarian ideology.
Totalitarianism in its final form is the doctrine that the government, the state, must exercise total control over the individual. The American College Dictionary, closely following Webster's Collegiate, defines totalitarianism as "pertaining to a centralized form of government in which those in control grant neither recognition nor tolerance to parties of different opinion."

Obama State Dept Excludes Israel From Counterterrorism Forum

by William Bigelow

How much does Barack Obama hate Israel and want to throw her under the bus? Here’s how much; the Obama administration not only excluded Israel from a new counterterrorism forum in Spain, it didn’t even mention Israel in its remarks. If there were ever a country that has dealt with murderous terrorist attacks over and over again, that country would be Israel.

Chicago: Socialists Scream for Free Palestine and Free Abortion on Demand

by Kyle Olson

Fifteen hundred socialists recently convened in suburban Chicago at the International Socialist Organization’s annual conference. As in previous years, attendees consumed Marxist propaganda on government education, government health care and how to best end capitalism.

Obama: Chavez Not 'Serious' Threat

by Joel B. Pollak

Hugo Chavez might be shipping fuel to the murderous Syrian regime. He might be helping the genocidal Iranian regime build a missile base in Venezuela that can target the United States directly. He might have supported Muammar Qaddafi, just as he has supported terrorism in Columbia and incited hatred against Israel. He might have tried to undermine constitutional democracy in Honduras and across the continent. He might hate America and launch into anti-American diatribes at every opportunity. But according to President Barack Obama, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez is not a "serious" national security threat.

Senate Dems Kill Obama’s Tax Plan

by Ben Shapiro

In a shocking repudiation of President Obama’s “soak the rich” economic plans, Senate Democrats today blocked a vote on President Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 per year. Senate Republicans had proposed an immediate vote on the measure. In fact, they proposed two votes: one to extend the Bush tax cuts in their totality, the other to raise taxes as per Obama’s plan. “My recommendation is we give the president what he asked for,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Big Promise: House Votes To Repeal Obamacare For 31st Time

by Ben Shapiro

The House Republicans have voted dozens of times to repeal all or part of President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation. This time, Republicans – and five Democrats who voted with them -- used the occasion of a repeal vote to punch back at President Obama’s tax on the American people. Picking up on Chief Justice John Roberts’ interpretation of the health care individual mandate as a tax, Republicans pointed out that this particular tax would disproportionately strike the middle and lower classes. Just as importantly, they said, Obamacare would destroy small business.

By Caroline Baum

Faced with an 8.2 percent unemployment rate less than four months before the election, President Barack Obama is trying to deflect attention from his record by undermining Republican opponent Mitt Romney’s major selling point: that he’s an experienced businessman who knows how to create jobs.
The Obama campaign is running ads claiming Romney is a “pioneer of outsourcing,” a reference to his work at private- equity firm Bain Capital. One such ad closes with the question: “Does Iowa really want an outsourcer-in-chief in the White House?”

Yes, Actually, Obamacare Is the Biggest Tax Increase in History

No sooner had Chief Justice Roberts issued his ruling that ObamaCare’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance ObamaCare was a tax than the law’s defenders in the press were racing to rebut the idea that the law, overall, is the largest tax increase in American history.
“No, ObamaCare Isn’t the Biggest Tax Increase in History,” was the headline over Kevin Drum’s piece in Mother Jones, published July 1.
“No, ‘Obamacare’ isn’t ‘the largest tax increase in the history of the world’ (in one chart)” was the headline over a July 2 postby the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, which hyperlinked back to Kevin Drum.

The Dark Side of Anti-"Swiss Bank Account" Politics

Democratic Swissophobia is hurting patriotic, middle-class Americans.

Matt Welch |

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) may be too busy to pass a budget more than every 1,168 days or so, but he can always spare time for passing judgments about U.S. citizens who have the gall to open bank accounts in stable countries with sound currencies and a tradition (if eroding) of banking privacy.
"You either get a Swiss bank account to conceal what you're doing, or you believe the Swiss franc is stronger than the American dollar," Durbin put forth on Face the Nation this weekend, in part of a coordinated Democratic attack on Mitt Romney's overseas finances.

Violence Is Not Victory

Mexico's election results are the latest sign of Latin American dissent from the drug war.

Jacob Sullum

Early last year, when the death toll from Mexican President Felipe Calderon's crackdown on the cartels stood at 35,000 or so, Michele Leonhart, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told reporters in Cancun "the unfortunate level of violence is a sign of success in the fight against drugs." The results of last week's presidential election, in which the candidate of Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) finished a distant third, suggest Mexican voters are no longer buying that counterintuitive argument, if they ever did.

Obama and Romney Are As Different as Two Peas in a Pod

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For all the distinction-drawing, the candidates’ visions often sound strikingly similar

A. Barton Hinkle

“We’ve got two fundamentally different ideas about where we should take the country,” said President Obama at a recent campaign stop in Ohio. The statement was false in the sense he meant it, but true in another.
Despite its questionable facticity, Obama will be flogging this theme hard until November. The president hammered away at it some more later the same day, when he told a crowd there are “two fundamentally different visions about how we move the country forward. And the great thing about our democracy is you get to be the tiebreaker.”

Give Peña Nieto -- and the PRI -- a chance

Posted By Paul Bonicelli

I'd like to follow up on my colleague Jose Cardenas' excellent post last week on the presidential election in Mexico. The PRI's Enrique Peña Nieto has won, but with only a little more than 38 percent of the vote. He will have to make deals with the opposition in the national legislature to get the much needed reforms he promised; exert his authority over the PRI at all levels, including the governors; handle any lingering student protests deftly; and win over critics in the United States and abroad who have a phobia where the PRI is concerned. All these burdens are legitimately laid on him, but the latter one is arguably unfair and unhelpful if taken too far.

Schiff: Quantitative Easing Is Like 'Keeping A Drug Addict HighSunday

By Newsmax Wires

The U.S. economy is in the middle of a “phony” recovery according to one economist, and the government printing more money isn’t going to help get it healthy.

Comparing the economy to a drug addict, Peter Schiff, noted economist and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, said in a recent interview that all of the money the government is printing to boost the economy is “like you are trying to keep a drug addict high. And every time the drug wears off, if you want him to stay high, you have to give him more. But he’s not going to get healthy if you keep him on drugs.”

Why China's economic opacity is a serious problem

Posted By Kristopher Harrison

An interesting thing has happened on the way from strategic competitor to regional ally (or whatever it is that President Obama labels China these days). During the economic malaise of the world's largest economy, and during Japan's lingering inability to escape the grips of recession, the Chinese economy has grown to become the world's second largest, behind only the U.S. (Japan's former position).
Of course this is not necessarily a bad thing. Economic growth hopefully will bring more freedom to China's people. At a minimum it'll allow more of its citizens to buy widgets that help them get around the Great Firewall.

– by Staff Report

Capitalism is in crisis but it's still our best bet for prosperity ... The last couple of weeks have not been good for capitalism. The Libor scandal has come on top of yet more disputes about executive pay ... There is a view that the failings of the current system are all the regulators' fault. Take regulatory restrictions away and capitalism will work in its usual way to promote the best interests of society. What nonsense. Of course the regulation of banking has been very poor - but mainly because the regulators were taken in by the ethos of "don't interfere; the market knows best". Capitalism must exist in a world of laws, conventions, and institutional structures. Finance must be constrained by these to operate in the interests of society. Otherwise, it has a way of gobbling up huge resources ... In practice, what happens in companies is not some private preserve where normal rules do not apply but rather is fully part of society, and it is from society that businesses derive sustenance. Accordingly, if in a public company executive rewards consistently exceed any reasonable notion of contribution there is a legitimate public interest. The condoning of such things corrodes public confidence and erodes the feeling that we belong to a common society. For excessive rewards are effectively stolen from the rest of us – as employees, customers or pensioners. If this feeling is allowed to go too far, we will indeed cease to belong to a common society – with dire consequences for us all. – UK Telegraph
Dominant Social Theme: Capitalism is great so long as it's regulated.

– by Ron Paul

Ron Paul

Last week my subcommittee held a hearing on fractional reserve banking and the moral hazard created by government (taxpayer) insured deposits. Fractional reserve banking is the practice by which banks accept deposits but only keep a fraction of those deposits on hand at any time. In practice, nearly 100% of deposits are loaned out, yet depositors believe that they can withdraw the full amount of their deposit at any time. Loaned funds are then redeposited and reloaned up to the limit of the bank's reserve requirements, compounding the effect.

– by Ron Holland

Ron Holland

This is a fictional story showing how the last vestiges of the republic, your personal wealth and gold could disappear in 24 hours.
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." – Frank Zappa
Several weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Obama's sudden executive order favoring illegal aliens. This was just one of many presidential executive orders and actually not a big deal but this tool will likely be the legal mechanism used to financially lock down America similar to the way a warden limits privileges and movement in a prison complex. Executive orders, unless they are challenged, can allow a president to rule by decree. This is basically what our once great republic has been reduced to.

Obama's Economic Fictions Are Unraveling

By Robert Tracinski -

President Obama's statement that "the private sector is doing fine" is not just gaffe. It is a lesson in bad economics and an explanation of the failure of Obamanomics.
The specific premise behind that statement is that the cause of persistent unemployment is not the weakness of the private sector but rather a decrease in employment by state and local governments.

Democrats Fear Obama May Lose

By Julie Pace and Jim Kuhnhenn

WASHINGTON (AP) — In growing numbers, once-confident Democrats now say President Barack Obama could lose the November election.
The hand-wringing reflects real worries among Democrats about Obama's ability to beat Republican rival Mitt Romney, who has proven to be a stronger candidate than many expected. But it's also a political strategy aimed at rallying major donors who may have become complacent.

The Coming DNC Disaster

By Michelle Malkin

There aren't Greek columns tall or wide enough to camouflage Barack Obama's impending North Carolina catastrophe. In September, the campaigner-in-chief will travel to Charlotte for his party's presidential nominating convention. For once, the incurable jetsetter may wish he had stayed home.
Obama's stage managers envision a triumphant, unifying coronation reminiscent of their 2008 DNC production in Denver. But the southern swing state is turning into a Democratic disaster zone.

Obama in Denial

By Michael Gerson -

WASHINGTON -- One would think, given so much practice, that the Obama White House would have been better prepared for last week's wretched jobs report.
Instead, we witnessed the five stages of bad public relations. Delusion: It was a "step in the right direction." Dismissiveness: Don't "read too much into any one monthly report." Grudging acceptance: "It's still tough out there." Cliché: "There are no quick fixes." Self-pity: "I suspect that most people in Cincinnati would acknowledge that I've tried real hard."

Are the Dems Doomed?

By Jonah Goldberg

Is it time to start talking about the inevitable demise of the Democratic Party?
Since the 1990s there's been a thriving cottage industry of doomsaying about the Republican Party. The gold standard of the genre is undoubtedly 2002's "The Emerging Democratic Majority" by Ruy Teixeira and John Judis, which argued that the Democrats were destined to become a majority party because demographic and cultural trends were on their side. The increasing cultural liberalism of professionals, the dramatic growth of Latinos and the increasingly liberal attitudes of (single) women were celebrated by Teixeira and Judis as proof that time was on the Democrats' side.

Jobs Versus Net Jobs

By Thomas Sowell -

One of the reasons for the popularity of political rhetoric is that everybody can be right, in terms of their own rhetoric, no matter how much the rhetoric of one side contradicts the rhetoric of the other side.
President Obama constantly repeats how many millions of jobs have been created during his administration, while his critics constantly repeat how many millions of jobs have been lost during his administration. How can both of them be right -- or, at least, how can they both get away with what they are saying?

Hypocrisy, thy name is David Axelrod.

President Obama’s senior campaign adviser last week called Mitt Romney “the most secretive candidate we’ve seen probably since Richard Nixon,” citing Romney having assets in offshore accounts.
Amazingly, Axelrod said this just two weeks after his client invoked executive privilege — a term practically synonymous with Nixon and Watergate — to block the release of subpoenaed documents in the “Fast and Furious” scandal.
This is especially ironic considering Obama’s vow, immediately after the 2008 election, to lead the “most open and transparent [government] in history.”

Getty Images

President Obama

Has that actually happened? Hardly.
Across the board, this White House is arguably the most secretive since, well, since you-know-who.
* The administration has used the 1917 Espionage Act six times to prosecute federal whistleblowers who leaked information to the media — twice the number brought in the entire previous 95 years.

Faber: ‘Massive Wealth Destruction’ Coming, Well-to-Do ‘May Lose 50%’

The critical question over the next decade isn’t “where will my returns be highest?” but “where will I lose the least money?”

That, according to economist and investor Marc Faber, is the scenario facing investors today.

As the author of the Gloom, Boom, and Doom Report, Marc Faber is a well-known contrarian, earning celebrity status because of his ominous predictions.

So his pessimism during a recent appearance on CNBC wasn’t surprising for a man whose nickname is “Doctor Doom.” What was surprising was the level of “wealth destruction” he sees in the not-too-distant future.

Michael Barone

There has been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth as, in the spring, it appeared that forces supporting Mitt Romney would be able to raise about as much money as those supporting Barack Obama. There’s even more now that it seems likely that the pro-Romney side will raise and spend more money than the pro-Obama side.
Four years ago, the Obama forces heavily outspent those supporting John McCain. That made the Democrats spoiled. The prospect that the other side would have as much money as they do struck them as a cosmic injustice. The prospect that it would have more — heaven forfend!

McCain: Massively outspent by Obama in 2008 — with no uproar.

They like to blame this situation on the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which allows corporations and unions to spend money on political speech. They did so even after their defeat in the Wisconsin recall, in which Citizens United had no effect because fund-raising was governed by state law.
What’s really interesting is that, if current projections are right, this will be the third election in a row in which the party holding the White House will be outspent by the opposition.

O’s sad gambit

John Podhoretz

So we have come to this: President Obama is now treating not raising taxes as though it were the same as providing a tax cut. Gene Sperling, his top economic adviser, even dared to refer to Obama’s proposal yesterday of a partial one-year extension of the Bush rates as a “tax break.”
Up is down. 2+2 = 5. Leave a tax rate intact and it’s the same as cutting taxes. No wonder the White House believed not buying a health-care policy should be considered an economic activity to be taxed and penalized.

Tuning Out a President

Tuned-out Presidents
Somewhere around early 2006, the nation tuned out George W. Bush for a variety of reasons, some warranted, but many not. Most thought the Katrina aftermath catastrophe was due to state and local officials (do you recall the utterly incompetent loudmouth Mayor [“chocolate city”] Nagan, or the clueless FEMA director Michael [“Brownie”] Brown?), while the president’s culpability was largely political: he flew high over, rather than waded into, the muck on the first day of the recovery.
No matter: either the media or his opponents succeeded in confirming the narrative of an out-of-touch president at best, and at worst one indifferent to the plight of African-American poor in particular. The more the president talked of help and rescue, the more we heard absurdities from a malicious Nagan and inanities from an incompetent Brownie.

Steps in the double-talk direction

Charles Gasparino

Our president has a funny way with words when it comes to describing the lousy economy. Even for an election year, some of his whoppers would be laughable — if they weren’t coming from a man who wants to remain in charge of the country and its floundering economy for another four years
Speaking after last Friday’s jobs report, President Obama said the economy is taking a “step in the right direction.” Really?
Economic growth as measured by gross domestic product is falling; it’s now less than 2 percent. The Friday report showed that 80,000 jobs were created last month, vs. 77,000 the month before. So, yes, there was an increase — but, earlier in the year, the economy created an average of 226,000 jobs a month. The trend line is actually falling — i.e., we’re headed in the wrong direction.

Barack Obama

Mitt Romney's Secret Weapon - If He Can Bring Himself to Use It. by Jim Powell

By upholding Obamacare, Chief Justice John Roberts has given Mitt Romney a significant opportunity in the election campaign. But he could blow it if he doesn’t use a “secret weapon.”

The Supreme Court decision assures that Obamacare will be among the top campaign issues, and polls continue to suggest that a majority of voters don’t like it.
Roberts offered what might become known as trans-gender justice (first it’s one thing, then it’s another) that seems to have outraged many independents as well as Republicans who want to uphold the Constitution, not sanction arbitrary power. Roberts’ decision could spur a higher turnout among voters critical of Obamacare.

US Sails into Dangerous Waters. by Ted Galen Carpenter

For several years the United States has pursued rapprochement with Vietnam, its bitter adversary during the Cold War. Although the establishment of cordial relations should be beneficial not only for both countries but all of East Asia, basing that new relationship on military cooperation threatens to pervert the process and produce greater tensions in the region. Instead, US officials should build a closer relationship with Hanoi primarily on economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties. That approach would not only improve bilateral relations, but more extensive economic links in particular would help draw Vietnam further into the global economy. Such a development would be all to the good.

Rise of the Global Tax Collectors. by Richard W. Rahn

The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive right to tax Americans at the federal level. Yet Congress continues to give away this most fundamental responsibility to international organizations, the most dangerous of which is the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Most Americans probably would not approve of their tax dollars being used to support an international organization that undermines their fundamental liberties and promotes giving their hard-earned money to other governments, often run by corrupt or dictatorial regimes. This is precisely what the OECD is doing, with the blessing of the majority members of Congress.

Why Long-Term Unemployment Has Doubled under President Obama. by Jim Powell

The media has focused on prolonged unemployment over 8 percent, while generally downplaying a shocker: the soaring number of people unemployed for more than 6 months.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, back in January 2009 when Barack Obama was sworn in, there were 2.6 million people unemployed for more than 6 months. By June 2012, the ranks of the long-term jobless soared more than 100 percent to 5.3 million.
President Obama has promoted long-term unemployment by adopting policies that make it harder and more expensive for employers to hire people. He has relentlessly pushed for higher taxes, higher energy costs, compulsory unionism and, of course, Obamacare. One doesn't need a Harvard degree to figure out that when government makes hiring more difficult and expensive, there's likely to be less of it.

Obama's Accomplishments. by David Boaz

As he runs for re-election, President Obama wants to point to his accomplishments in office. Trouble is, he's having trouble identifying them.

He killed Osama bin Laden, for sure. But after that...
He'd like to say that the economy is getting better, but the slow recovery is hampering his ability to sell that idea to the public. He likes to say that he saved General Motors and Chrysler; his critics argue that he really spent $23 billion of taxpayers' money to force the companies into bankruptcy and save the United Auto Workers Union. The president also has tried to claim that federal spending was increasing more slowly on his watch than in any presidency in 60 years, but the data don't bear out that narrative.

Political Capital Matters in the Case for Fiscal Reform. by Alberto Mingardi

Though the concern is that governments may not manage their fiscaI burdens with only a limited mutualisation of debt, I see the issue quite differently. My fear is that, with a deep mutualisation of debt, the reform process in member states will stop in its tracks.We know that successful federations feature regional bonds without bailout guarantees, as in the US, for example. The current crisis has its roots in irresponsible behaviour by European member states. The inordinate growth of public spending left some with too much public debt. Cutting spending is difficult in modern democracies but not impossible. Northern social democracies such as Finland and Sweden succeeded; Canada (now considered a country relatively resilient to the global crisis) did it in the 1990s; and Latvia and Estonia tightened their belts more recently.

The John Roberts Doctrine: Stopping at Red Lights is Optional

By Terence P. Jeffrey

Are you required to stop your car at a red light?
In his opinion declaring Obamacare's individual mandate constitutional, Chief Justice John Roberts constructed an absurd doctrine of legal interpretation that, if consistently applied, would hold you are not.
The Roberts Doctrine of Lawlessness can be summarized as follows: You need not stop at a red light as long as you can afford to pay the penalty for running it. Red lights merely give motorists a "choice" of whether to stop or keep moving and pay the fine the government imposes for not stopping.
Let's see how our chief justice applied his doctrine to Obamacare:

By Melanie Hunter

FILE - In this June 28, 2012 file photo, with the Capitol in the background, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Washington. A day after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling, Romney said the high court's decision to uphold President Barack Obama's health care overhaul has created new urgency in the presidential contest. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

(CNSNews.com) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told CBS's "This Morning" on Thursday that the Supreme Court has ruled that Obamacare is a tax, "so it's a tax," while the health care mandate he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts is a "penalty."

Romney said both Obamacare and Romneycare should now be considered constitutional.

"The Supreme Court has the final word, and their final word is that Obamacare is a tax. So it's a tax. They decided it was constitutional, so it's a tax and it's constitutional. That's the final word. That's what it is," Romney said.
"Now, I agree with the dissent--I would have taken a different course, but the dissent wasn't in the majority. The majority has ruled, and their rule is final," he said.

Army Manual Outlines Plan To Kill Rioters, Demonstrators In America

Paul Joseph Watson

A newly leaked US Army Military Police training manual for “Civil Disturbance Operations” outlines how military assets are to be used domestically to quell riots, confiscate firearms and even kill Americans on U.S. soil during mass civil unrest.

Army Manual Outlines Plan To Kill Rioters, Demonstrators In America New Orleans Katrina military police patrol Canal St. 090505 by AP

The document (PDF), which is dated 2006 and was used for a self-learning course at the U.S. Army Military Police School at Fort McClellan, makes it clear that the operations described in the manual apply to both “CONUS and OCONUS,” meaning inside the Continental United States and outside the Continental United States.

The document outlines how military assets will be used to “help local and state authorities to restore and maintain law and order” in the event of mass riots, civil unrest or a declaration of martial law.

The primary function of military assets will be focused around, “breaking up unauthorized gatherings and by patrolling the disturbance area to prevent the commission of lawless acts,” states the document, adding, “during operations to restore order, military forces may present a show of force, establish roadblocks, break up crowds, employ crowd control agents, patrol, serve as security forces or reserves, and perform other operations as required.”

Wednesday, July 11, 2012