What does a bought and paid for rally look like?

They are for YOU getting a tax increase because they need more money and services. Now be a good tax payer and Give up the bucks!

***Guest Blog****

There was an amazing climax to the Pa Leadership Conference this weekend with Saturday afternoon speeches by our gubernatorial candidates Tom Corbet and Sam Rohrer.

No one could deny the room was clearly pro-Rohrer. The crowd gave wildly enthusiastic applause to the introduction of Sam, and interrupted his inspiring speech, which centered on the princples on which he would govern, with spirited applause and chants of "Go, Sam, Go!" Many in the crowd had the now-familiar blue and white campaign signs and raised them energetically throughout the speech.

This was in stark contrast not only to the reception Corbett got, but to the entire style and substance of Corbett's speech. Corbett sounded more like a politician, less interested in principles, and honestly, it was difficult to tell what he stood for at the end of the speech. Even with respect to his lawsuit filed against the federal government on behalf of Pennsylvania to protect our 10th Amendment rights in the healthcare bill, he did not energetically communicate his interest in defending these rights. I am not trying to tell you what Mr. Corbett believes. I am telling you the way he sounded. Of course this is subjective; you will make your own determination.

Mr. Corbett did say that our "Constitution is a living document." I was so stunned to hear these words come out of the mouth of our attorney general that I don't even remember what he said after that. There was a stunned reaction in the room as conservatives looked at each other and said to themselves, "Did he really just say that??"Perhaps he meant something other than what is usually meant when liberals say this. Did he? Why the choice of words? Words have meaning, and words have connotations. Surely the state committee-endorsed candidate knows this.

The most important takeaway, and perhaps the most important illustration during the entire weekend, is that SAM ROHRER CAN WIN THIS ELECTION. The Tea Party is envigorated and excited by what this candidate stands for, and they are coming out to vote for him on May 18.

But the 50 dollar question is: Will they step up and get out the vote for Sam? Will they be able to bring their neighbors out and vote for Sam, as well? Because that is what it is going to take. The Tea Party activists are not enough in numbers alone.
This is why the Precinct Project is so important.

The job of committee people is to know how to effectively get out the vote in their precincts. And it is the job of the county committee to make sure all committee people are trained in how to accomplish this and then have the means to do it.

Can we do it in May 2010? We will find out on May 19.

Lois Kaneshiki
Pennsylvania Precinct Project
Candidate, Republican State Committee
Blair County
http://www.BringthePartytothePeople.org

Rewriting the History of the Collapse
By Ryan McMaken
Published 04/16/10

Rewriting the History of the Collapse

"The talking points have been written and the official spokesmen have been briefed. Now all that remains is for them to deliver the government-approved version of the history of the financial collapse that has led to the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression.

In recent comments to the Council of Institutional Investors, Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin's prepared remarks examined at length the causes of the collapse without mentioning the Federal Reserve system once. Nor did he mention Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. He did blame AIG, Enron, and the "opaque, unregulated market we have today[.]" The suggestion that the financial markets are unregulated will be news to anyone who has worked in the financial sector, but what we are seeing again and again is a public relations machine that has been dispatched to make it clear that the Federal government and its quasi-government monopolies will be relegated to the background as but marginal players in the system, or even as victims.

We see this attitude in the often-repeated claim by Fed representatives, such as Bernanke himself, that the Fed would have regulated better if only Congress had given it the power to do so. Thus, the Federal Reserve, the engine behind the absurdly low mortgage rates and the moral hazard that drove the bubble to such destructive ends, would have prevented the collapse if only Congress had given it more power. Ignored is the fact that, had the Fed not flooded financial institutions with cheap money, millions of high-risk and soon-to-be-delinquent loans would never have been made in the first place.

In a January speech to the American Economic Association in Atlanta, Bernanke declared that "Economists who have investigated the issue have generally found" that the Fed is blameless, and that the money being pumped into the mortgage market via the Fed contributed to only a "small portion" of the run-up in home prices. Bernanke also claims to this day that the Fed was doing its best to head off the crisis in spite of the fact that, at least until 2007, if not later, Bernanke repeatedly denied the existence of a housing bubble at all, while denying that a housing bust would have any substantial impact on the economy.

While the Fed gets defensive, Treasury simply ignores it.  Wolin's remarks omit the Fed from the discussion in toto, and after a few months of Bernanke and Greenspan denying that the Fed had any role in the crisis at all, it seems that the current method among the spokesmen for the regime will be to simply distract the public from the central role the Fed had in the collapse.  It has done this by providing a narrative that focuses on anyone but the Fed or the GSEs. Wolin's remarks make it clear that the focus is now on regulation and on using populist rhetoric to yet again augment and cement the power of the very rich through the Fed and through a new managerial apparatus that will allow the federal government to directly control trillions of dollars that were once considered private property.

The GSEs, Fannie and Freddie, are apparently innocent bystanders as well.  As the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations kicks off a week of hearings, the committee's chair, Carl Levin, has already set the tone for the investigations, and it seems that Fannie and Freddie will hardly be center stage. Amazingly, Levin's remarks on the perfidy of the secondary market did not appear to mention Fannie and Freddie at all, despite the central role of these institutions in purchasing countless numbers of securitized loans, and in making the sale of those loans profitable for the originators.

Before they finally admitted insolvency and entered a state of conservatorship in 2008, the GSEs had long maintained that they were private institutions.  Yet, the fact that they were exempted from state and local regulations and taxation while wielding massive influence on Capitol Hill, and the fact that everyone simply accepted that the GSEs would be bailed out in case of failure, ensured that Fannie and Freddie would always have ready access to the capital necessary to keep buying up a nearly limitless supply of securitized loans that, in many cases, few others were willing to purchase. 

Calling them "securitization factories" Levin condemned the banks that sold large numbers of securitized loans on the secondary market. But to whom on the secondary market did these lenders sell their securitized loans? They sold them to Fannie and Freddie in enormous quantities, and the GSEs, having been created by the Federal Government to accelerate the purchase of mortgage loans on the secondary market, were the engine behind securitization.  Fannie and Freddie also were the driving force behind the proliferation of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) that further accelerated the process of securitization and also virtually eliminated transparency in ownership of the securitized loans. In short, the volume of securitized loans on the secondary market would have been a mere fraction of its true size without the GSEs since the loan originators were often only responding to repeated requests from Fannie and Freddie to sell them loans that proved to be extremely bad investments.

Yet, in the rhetoric coming out of Treasury and the Senate about transparency and securitization Fannie and Freddie are mere bit players. At the same time, mentioning the Fed in the discussion on limiting risky behavior at banks is allowed only as long as no one mentions the fact that the Fed provided the gasoline for the fire that ended up wiping out the value of so many loans.

The stakes are enormously high in the present rhetorical battle. Just as it was essential for Roosevelt and the Keynesians to convince the public that the Great Depression was caused by an unfettered free market, it is equally true that the Federal government must now avoid a situation in which the public actually recognizes the widespread and central role of the Federal Government in the present collapse.  The talking points center on transparency and risk management, yet no organization in recent decades has created more moral hazard and provided less transparency than the Federal Reserve. The official spokesmen decry securitization and low-quality loans, yet the bloated secondary market and its securitized loans are the product of decades of Federal subsidization of the housing market through the GSEs and the Fed.

The present rhetoric blames the lenders who sold securitized loans into a market that would have been far smaller and much more risk-averse were it not for the Feds. Securitization doesn't happen unless there's a market for it. The present rhetoric blames the market for providing loans to borrowers who should never have borrowed. Yet the money to make those loans would have never existed without the Fed. Even those who favor regulation can agree that there is no need to regulate loans that are never made, and there is no need to regulate securitized mortgages that are never sold.

The Fed is today facing criticism far beyond what it has ever experienced since its creation. The legitimacy of the federal government is at a historical low point. The public senses that the Federal Government — bloated, corrupt, and incompetent — had a role in the collapse.

However, if the Feds are successful in directing the public's gaze toward a few organizations of secondary importance such as the financial institutions that merely followed the lead of Fannie, Freddie and the Fed, it could take decades to undo the damage that will be done."

Copyright © 2010 LewRockwell.com

quoted in full with attribution and  credit

Ryan McMaken teaches political science in Colorado. Follow him on Twitter.

Barack-- I Bow MA

I bow wherever I go...Oh, I Bow Ma !

I was one of three area leaders interviewed on WCED radio today.

It was my first radio interview. I  didn't really know what to expect as far as questions. It was more or less like being around a kitchen table talking with people you were comfortable with, but remembering at the same that the answer was being projected out to a listening audience.

This message holds true to those who believe that voting for any political party will just solve our problems. For those who believe that, keep passing the pipe among yourselves.

Until people take personal responsibility for their government and hold their leaders to account, the only thing that changes is the type of  statism.

a stark reminder.

Those who forget the history of the world are doomed to be manipulated by it again.

Don't Let Freedom Slip Away
By: Kitty Werthmann

What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard or will ever read in history books.

I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide - 98% of the vote. I've never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression.

Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.
Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people - about 30 daily.
The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna, Linz, and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany , where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group -- Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.
Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.

Hitler Targets Education - Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:

Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang "Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles," and had physical education.

Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

My mother was very unhappy. When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn't do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun - no sports, and no political indoctrination. I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler. It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn't exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

Equal Rights Hits Home: In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and if you didn't have a card, you starved to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn't have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps. During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines. When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.

Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:
When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers. You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:

Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna. After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.

As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.

We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

"Mercy Killing" Redefined:
In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school.

One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.

As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.

The Final Steps - Gun Laws:
Next came gun legislation. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.
After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria. Women were raped, preteen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either. When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could, dismantling whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole orchards of fruit, and what they couldn't destroy, they burned. We called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded themselves in their houses. Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as the troops mobilized. Those who couldn't, paid the price. There is a monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred by the Russians.

This is an eye witness account.

"It's true..those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity. America truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don't Let Freedom Slip Away!