Putting the Cart Before the Horse

States Look to Prisons for Ways to Save Money, Including Letting Some Inmates Go

As the years have gone by in our now shabby and failing republic, the laws have multiplied fruitfully. The penalties have steadily risen and mandatory jail sentences have been imposed for some of the smallest and least offensive crimes. And the result, the highest number of people incarcerated per capita in the world. Even Russia comes in more than 30% lower.

What happens when you jail someone? They cease to be a productive member of society - often, for the rest of their lives. "Stamping license plates in prison for three years" as a "prior experience" item on your Resume somehow doesn't really get you the job.

There are a number of serious crimes for which prison is, indeed, the only recourse. Serious assaults, murder, etc. But then there are other crimes, such as having a semi-automatic rifle that malfunctions, or minor drug related offenses in which the possessor was simply caught due to a broken tail light. With the number of laws now on the books, we are, in reality, a nation of criminals (at least, as defined by our loving overlords).

With the current economic crisis, states now are realizing that they can't continue to pay to keep all these people in prison. So they're going to let them loose. Assuming the people they let loose are no threat to society, I have absolutely no problem with that.

What gets me though, is this: How many of these states, as a result of this issue, will review their statutes with an eye towards reforming overly draconian laws designed to make criminals out of law abiding citizens?

Somehow, I doubt even one will.

Contrition

Tiny Town's Request for $375M Slice of Stimulus Sparks Uproar

Well, at least *some* of them can feel shame.

Drowning in Debt (Part 2)

I haven't found a better article to describe what is going on, and what we are really seeing.

This Comstock article is a must read. I know for those of you who aren't financially minded it may be dry, but it is very important that you understand this subject intimately, because it directly affects your ability to continue to live above the poverty line. This information also will directly impact your liberty, as your Government continues to play Russian Roulette with a revolver that has 5 loaded cylinders.

The Government and the MSM are not giving you the straight facts on what is really going on with the economy, but this sums it up pretty handily.

Mishandling of this crisis will be catastrophic.

To put the article above into perspective, and to vet the messenger, here is an excerpt from an article titled: How We Got Into This Mess written at Comstock in March, 2008. It's fairly prophetic (em. mine - GGM):

Superficially, it would seem as if the Fed can come to the rescue again. The problem with the Fed continuing to rescue the economy and stock market is that the total U.S. debt (both public and private) has increased substantially over the past 5 years to $49 trillion and the public sector debt is less than $8 trillion. The debt that has been generated by the private sector has grown to such a level that the Fed no longer has control. In fact, the main thing the Fed is accomplishing with these rate reductions and other "liquidity" measures is to drive down the US dollar. Soon they will realize that this is all they are accomplishing.

It is our contention that this latest "bull market" over the past five (2002-2007) years should have never taken place without a more significant recession (that would have reduced debt and encouraged savings) and a more severe stock market "wash-out". This would have gone far to correct the severe imbalances caused by the financial mania of the late 1990s, but unfortunately that did not happen. Right now the Fed is trying the same thing that seemed to work in 2001 & 2002. Actually, all they did was postpone what should have happened in 2003 to the present period. However, now they are attempting to manipulate the credit markets, stock market, and housing market by lowering rates, reducing regulatory restrictions (FRE & FNM), and encouraging special auctions to generate more "liquidity". They can throw as much liquidity as they have (about $900 billion-half committed-- unless they decide to print more) at the various problems as they sprout up, but it is futile.

The capitalistic system typically undergoes mild recessions that correct imbalances built up during the expansion. When these recessions are not allowed to occur, the imbalances just get worse and eventually results in a much deeper recession, or even depression. After the country goes through an incredible spending spree financed with debt, there has to be a period of cleansing. And if this indulgence is accompanied by almost everyone moving into homes they cannot afford or buying second and third homes based on unlimited credit, causing an incredible housing bubble that has to be corrected, it makes the problem much worse. There is nothing the Fed can do to stop housing prices from continuing to decline and commercial real estate will be the next shoe to fall.

The period of cleansing is called a recession, but if the government and Fed continue to interfere and maybe postpone it again, the recession might turn into a depression. Let's hope the Fed and the Administration realize what is inevitable soon, or it could really get nasty!!!

The excerpt above was posted in March. Six months before things went sideways. Now think about the article written on Wednesday that I posted above very carefully and understand the message it contains. We have a serious problem, and it goes far beyond the potential of a serious depression. The possibility now exists for the entire country to collapse if this situation continues to be grossly mishandled.

So Mr. Obama, what is your next move? The answer is not to throw more money at the problem.

Preparedness - It's Not Just for "Nuts"

Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months

When I talk to people about having a small cache of non-perishable food on hand, as well as a reasonable amount of ammo for my main battle rifle, and water filtering abilities, they usually look at me as a "survival nut". Now, I certainly don't have the degree or depth of gear that I know true survivalists have, but I do have enough to hopefully ensure survivability in a grid down situation for at least three or four weeks.

To me, preparedness isn't about nuclear war, or Chinese invasion, or what have you (though those possibilities always exist), it's about making sure that I'm not screwed if things go sideways for a bit. Even a nasty ice storm could knock out power for a week or two, and having enough victuals to go through that in relative comfort isn't a bad thing.

While I'm sure at least some of the article I've linked above is likely a little over the top, sensationalist, or worst case kind of stuff, being prepared for a grid-out situation, including food, water, warmth, and defensive capabilities, isn't a bad thing. You just never know what might happen, and being able to provide for yourself and your family in the event of a serious breakdown in local infrastructure is just plain smart.

So if you don't have provisions for at least a few weeks, why not? It's not all that hard or expensive to at least stock up on some non-perishable food at the very least. Knowing how to cache water in the event of a disruption in service is a good thing as well. Do some reading now as to the various methods to provide for yourself and be prepared.

Gun Rights Examiner Goes National

David Codrea at War on Guns recently received his own blog at the Cleveland Examiner. The hope was that the blog would attract enough traffic to maybe get it even more visibility.

Well, David's hopes were realized. He has now stepped up into the brand new (and shiny) Gun Rights Examiner national blog. Please make a point of going to that actual site every day and reading it (or at least go and skim). We need to keep the traffic flowing in and the support levels high in order to keep that very important national voice.

Click Here to take a look, and don't forget to bookmark it!

Daniel White has taken over the Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner. Please stop by there and show your support as well.

Denninger on Obama

A great breakdown of Obama's economic speech today over at the Market Ticker. Click Here to read it.

Drowning in Debt

You hear the term "drowning in debt" used a lot in regards to American consumers. The credit card is king. Just listen to the radio or watch TV for a short time and you'll be inundated with credit help offers. "Erase your debt!", "Consolidate those cards!", every few minutes another company offers you their services to make that debt prison you're in go away.

It's not just credit cards - it's 6 or even 7 year car loans, it's mortgages, it's losing your job. What many don't grasp, however, is that this statement is also true of our government. You see, as a nation, our Gov has been spending far more than it makes for some time now. That money has to come from somewhere, and in order to avoid large amounts of crippling inflation, that money in large part comes from foreign nations, such as China.

That money funds all those Federal entitlement programs, the military, the national road infrastructure, everything really. Unfortunately, we have had a group running this country for some time now that hasn't really paid much attention to making sure that the innies meet or exceed the outies - that is, income is less than or equal to spending.

So the country is entering a debt prison. At the moment, that number stands at somewhere around $10.6 trillion (with a T). Our gross domestic product, the measurement of all spending and production in the country (which includes, by the way, spending by the government) is around $13 trillion. That number, however, is just what was produced - not the amount that came into the government. While there are other sources of income, Federal Income tax for 2006 was only $2 trillion. That's an awful big spread.

Why is this important? The current ability for our government to pay for its programs, its military, again, everything is hinged on continuing to receive money from foreign investment. And now this:

U.S. debt is losing its appeal in China

Sure, there are other sources of income, but this may be the start of a trend. You do not continue to fund a company, or in this case a nation, past the point that they can not pay it back. You also can not give money to someone if you need it to keep yourself solvent and alive.

How long will it be before foreign nations decide they'd rather see the money they've already invested come back before they give us any more? What will this do to you and your job? What are you doing to minimize your risk? Further, what happens when your nation's economy hits the tank and you need the money you'd otherwise be investing in US Treasuries to keep your own people fed and happy? Those funds dry right up.

A great writeup from Denninger is available here. Definitely required reading. The red line he references now links to the link I've provided above.

For a nice thought exercise, check out the list and valuation of foreign holders of treasury bonds - essentially our nation's credit card debt. How many on that list are unfriendly to our freedom and policies? What do you think might happen if we become unable to repay them?