Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Does Mike Huckabee support Austrian economics?


You may jump to say no, but perhaps things aren't as simple as saying that by way of no amount of rose colored tint could anyone possibly consider Mike Huckabee, candidate for President of the united States, a supporter of Austrian economics.

I'll offer one reason in favor of that premise. Mike Huckabee's campaign advertises on lewrockwell.com (famous for it's columns expounding Austrian economics). Hard to believe? It is true. I was reading Laurence M. Vance article recounting his attempts to contact his congressman regarding the Fair Tax and the rather formulaic responses he has received.

I'll admit that Mike Huckabee probably isn't an advocate of Austrian economics, but he is a supporter nonetheless (via his advertising). One more example of the law of unintended consequences.

For a real supporter of Austrian economics, I'll likely stick with supporting Ron Paul.

BTW, There is no such thing as a fair tax.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Gold at $913.40 per oz


One piece of data that many people concerned about the economy should be following is the price of gold. It is an agreed upon point that you can discuss with fellow American to communicate how the US Dollar is being devalued.

The price of gold (in US Dollars) is higher that ever before which means that the US Dollar is worth less than _ever_ before.

Take a look at a 30 year history of the price of gold and see what you think.

If you have an interest in sites related to gold and silver, my tagged links can be found here.

Do you think your neighbors might be interested in a presidential candiate like Ron Paul who believes in sound money? I think so too.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

McCain wins Louisiana, Ron Paul 2nd in Republican primary

Original news article at news.yahoo.com

  • A little side note….. Ron Paul was well ahead of McCain going into the Louisiana race, but Fred Thompson supporters threw their weight behind McCain to give “McWaricain” the win. It was a sad loss for Romney, who had traveled 4 times to Louisiana and spent lots of money on TV advertising. The Ron Paul organization was also disappointed; they expected this would be his first win. The next state to win for Ron Paul is New Jersey who is ahead in the polls there by 47%.
  • Meanwhile, since the economy is tanking, MSM press is talking nicely to Dr. Paul. Watch this interview and see what I mean.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM3JjVVzUIY
AP: Ron Paul Grassroots surpasses anything like it in history. With average donations at just $100, thousands of Ron Paul supporters are making history. Whether they realize it or not, they have been participating in the greatest grassroots movement in the history of American politics. With Blimps, Websites, Internet TV, Race Cars, Radio stations, Air Corps, Meet Up Groups, Videos and Money Bombs - never before has such a spontaneous outpouring of voluntary support been given to a candidate and message based on the culminate wisdom of our founding fathers and respect for the Constitution.

Gotta Digg by Kina Grannis

Now some people might wonder what a music video has to do with Ron Paul and you might be right if it were any other music video than "Gotta Digg".

The second stanza in this song goes as following:

I always dig up Apple, and I bury Microsoft
But when I said I was a girl, all the diggers scoffed
And when I see those stories about Senator Ron Paul
I don't even RTFA; I just digg them all!

This video has been watched more than 300,000 times and is one of my favorites.

You can read some commentary about the song at

http://www.digg.com/music/Gotta_Digg_The_official_Digg_song_Super_Bowl_Finalist

and if you feel that the song is really good then you can goto

http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/

(I am told that voting requires that you sign up with myspace.com)

I have a playlist of my favorite Kina Grannis music videos at:

http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=39B93092AD805CC0

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Amazing DVD


In case you aren't on the mailing list for "The Tempe Ron Paul 2008 Meetup Group" I will make a quick mention of the DVD that Treg (picture above) has been distributing (and I have been copying).

http://theamazingdvd.tk/ has all the video's stacked together for easy viewing.

http://amazingdvd.tk/ about the details of the DVD.

Treg says:
Make 100 DVD's and pass them out. Its better than all other DVD's for Ron Paul.

Thane Eichenauer

Ron Paul limo advertisers




During my time Monday night (2008-01-20) sign waving in Scottsdale, Arizona with my 2008 Ron Paul for President sign I had some time to look over the Ron Paul (Revolution) limo. There are quite a few messages being beamed from the Ron Paul limo and I'll cover a few of them...

#1 Ron Paul R-EVOL-ution and Ron Paul's head shot (prominent on both sides)
#2 Ron Paul Rewards (.com)
#3 GiveMeLiberty.org
#4 Hope for America
#5 Restore the Constitution
#6 Bring the Troops Home
#7 No National ID Card
#8 Eliminate the IRS
#9 DownsizeDC (.org)

Jeff Rense wrote a long article about the limo. After giving a quick read it seems that he has some concerns. Mainly about an independent business called RonPaulRewards.com. One of the more surprising aspersions cast is about Joby Weeks and his association with Bernard von NotHaus's organization libertydollar.org which according to Rense was "busted by the Federal government as a ponzi scheme".

I have made several purchases from LibertyDollar.org including a very fine "Ron Paul" $20 (1 oz .999 fine silver medallion) which I was able to sell at a fine markup (said funds paid for my contribution to the Ron Paul for President campaign). I have no complaints about LiberyDollar.org's products or services. I have yet to hear any person (other than Jeff Rense) call it a "ponzi scheme". Like any business LibertyDollar.org is run by real live flesh and blood people and it may not have been run like a government regulated bank (and maybe that is a plus). I think calling LibertyDollar.org any type of "ponzi scheme" is going too far IMHO. By far the worst complaint about any of Mr. Bernard von NotHaus's Liberty Dollars is not about the organization but the organization who swooped into their office as well as the business place of Sunshine Mint in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where every piece of property that belonged to LibertyDollar.org was stolen.

Who stole their property you ask? The FBI and the US Secret Service.


The worst ponzi scheme in America bar none is run by the Federal Reserve and condoned by the US Government. "Dollars" AKA Federal Reserve Notes are passed person to person, business to business, being depreciated every hour and every day by the Federal Reserve and their government buddies in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving.

There are plenty of offers that people should scrutinize before they sign up. RonPaulRewards.com being one of them.

Is the product that RonPaulRewards.com offering a good deal? I don't know. It certainly looks like Jeff Rense thinks it is a bad deal and that is fine. If people research RonPaulRewards.com for themselves and decide to buy the service then I say good. If they decide not to buy the product I also say good. As long as people have the option not to buy the product or service I am happy as long as Ron Paul gets some free advertising and people have one more impression of "Bring the Troops Home" I think that on the whole that the Ron Paul limo is a good thing.

I say thank you Limo Bob, thank you RonPaulRewards.com for paying for one more Ron Paul advertisement, thank you givemeliberty.org for trying your best to get a redress of grievance from the US Government (that's a tough one for sure!)

I even say thank you Jeff Rense for being concerned about Ron Paul and his image. I try to do all I can to make a good impression on my friends, my neighbors and the general public (on Ron Paul's behalf) and if RonPaulRewards.com is something bad then Mr. Rense's article will do some good.

As for Jeff Rense's claim that the disclaimer is "conveniently hard to read", I have to say that I didn't have any trouble finding it or reading it. It is at the bottom of their web page where most disclaimers are to be found, in 12 point size, which is the same size or larger than much of the text on the page. It is against a increasingly solid blue pattern which matches that at the top of the page and I hope if the operators of the RonPaulRewards.com site find this to be a legitimate complaint they will perhaps detach the disclaimer from the blue graphic and perhaps add a line around it.

I say that you the reader should be the judge here. Go to the web site and take a look, I picked it out and was able to read it, maybe grandma and grandpa can't and if so I hope they don't buy anything thinking that Ron Paul is personally going to sell them a discount card.

As for whether RonPaulRewards.com is "opportunistic", I would have to say yes by golly it is, they took the opportunity presented to advance Ron Paul's name (gaining the Ron Paul campaign some name recognition), they took the opportunity to pay for advertising on the Ron Paul limo a substantial amount of which I would guess will go to pay for a driver and fuel for its cross country tour. They took the opportunity (or some would call this risk) that some people will object to use and have used Ron Paul's name and likeness to promote a business. I say they saw an opportunity, they took a risk, they are selling a product and they hope to make a profit so as to pay for all the expenses $$$ involved (which isn't any sort of chump change here). Ron Paul had the opportunity in person to look at the limo and has put his signature on it. Should Ron Paul have signed the limo? I don't know but if he doesn't like the limo I imagine Ron Paul or Ron Paul's staff can call Limo Bob and ask to have his name and likeness taken off of it--perhaps Bob can have Hillary Clinton's visage put on it if "opportunistic businesses" offend too many people (but I hope not).

I could, but currently choose not to, mention disparagingly the advertiser I saw promoted on Mr. Rense's web site as "Our Advertisers Represent Some Of The Most Unique Products & Services On Earth!".

Why should I do so? People have free will. People CAN decide for themselves. People can choose NOT to buy a product or support an advertiser (and I hope they do or do not as they see fit). Is Jeff Rense's article a "seemingly opportunistic exploitation of Ron Paul's name". I don't think so but I hope the reader will keep in mind that not everything is as characterized by one guy on the internet. Caveat emptor!

I'll mention for full disclosure's sake that I have never met Jeff Rense but I imagine he is an good guy. I further have never met Limo Bob but I also imagine he is a good guy (or at least a good businessman). I have never met any other business person Jeff Rense mentions in his article: Joby Weeks or Trevor Crook. I've met the current driver of the Ron Paul limo. The driver seemed to be a rather polite guy who is driving a very long vehicle across the country and I certainly wish him well and safe voyaging.

Go Ron Paul!

Go Ron Paul Revolution!

Go Ron Paul limo!

Go Ron Paul Billboards (.com)!

Photo credit: Vodex

Ron Paul limo - GiveMeLiberty.org


I was at a sign wave in Scottsdale Monday night and got to see the Ron Paul (Revolution) limo live and in person for about 90 minutes. One of the URLs on the limo was "www.givemeliberty.org" and I wondered what they were all about.

I can't say I completely understand what the are all about but I think they are worth a look.

http://givemeliberty.org/

Friday, January 11, 2008

Help power the engines of the Tempe Ron Paul Revolution



Treg and I can really use your help. Click on the chipin graphic above to donate.