And now for a little exercise in (meta)physics for over the weekend.

Economists schooled in the theories of von Mises and Hayek have been warning of the dollar’s imminent collapse for some time now. Images of Germany in October 1923 (or Zimbabwe this year) illustrate governments’ fiscal policies run amok. And yet, the U.S. Dollar as a reserve currency maintains itself in relation to other benchmark currencies around the world. There doesn’t seem to be much sign of weakness in this corner of the otherwise lumbering economy.

And that’s what’s so worrying.

For some reason, I’ve been noticing flash-points in nature. Such as the moment enough heat interacts with the compounds atop a match head, causing a swift flare-up of enormous size compared to the chemicals. Or a thick, grey cumulus cloud passing overhead, looming dark and threatening, suddenly releasing a torrential downpour without warning. I believe these are examples of the second law of thermodynamics in action.

Flash-points occur in the man-made world as well, sort of metaphysical copies of natural law. And can happen with similar, unexpected violence.

In the early morning hours of April 26, 1986, workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant decided to test the safety procedures of Reactor 4. They reduced its power to bare minimum levels, to see how the reactor would behave if it had to be depowered in an emergency.

After the test, the workers increased power to bring it back online. The reactor remained at the bare minimum.

The workers increased the power a little more, expecting the reactor to kick in. But it didn’t. Still at bare minimum power. The supervisor nodded for another increase. And another. The workers brought up the power to normal operating level. And…

BANG!

A flash-point had been surpassed. Suddenly. Unexpectedly.

It wasn’t gradual. It wasn’t measurable. It just happened. It was a property of physics that hadn’t fully been taken into account.

The rest is history. Thousands dead. Mass contamination. An unforgettable, historic disaster.

Back to the present day, and the worst of the economic crisis appears to be in the past. The new administration warns of more clean-up ahead. This involves continuing to create huge amounts of credit out of thin air, and floating vast loans with bonds “promising to pay” at some time in the future.

Investors, well, those who survived the slaughter of autumn 08, appear confident in the dollar. It’s their last refuge. Stocks have been flat, and commodities have remained in the basement. So what’s left except the greenback?

While investors are pumping their hopes into the dollar, the government has not seen fit to change its ways. In fact, it intends to fight fire with a daisy-cutter and triple the actions that brought on this crisis in the first place.

The Fed has widened the credit line like the Grand Canyon, the Treasury department is floating their loans in record auctions, and investors are buying them up, insecure about the path they’re treading but certain there is nowhere else to put their money.

Like a financial Reactor 4, the sluggish banking system is being injected with more and more credit. More and more cash will be have to be disbursed. More and more government-backed securities will choke the marketplace.

They will spend more, and buy more, and print more…

Question is, when is the flash-point? The point at which the banking system melts down faster than Reactor 4, spewing hyper-inflation all across the world?

At what point will the last refuge of the global investor crumble, and her/his investments get consumed in a conflagration entirely made by an irresponsible, unrealistic government completely at the mercy of an unpredictable but inviolable natural law?

Most importantly, do the movers and makers of this imminent exercise in natural physical laws understand what’s happening? Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke seems to think he can shut the pressure valve in time to stop an explosion. He must think the Fed can call in its loans and raise interest rates just as the irruption begins.

But nature has a funny way of defying expectations while still remaining true to physics. The dollar may well go Chernobyl one early morning while the rest of us are tucked in bed.

It remains for We the People to hold onto our umbrellas and hope the next torrential downpour won’t be in worthless greenbacks.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, some of the big names of the Republican party showed up to support Branford’s RTC in the upcoming municipal elections.

State Senator and Candidate for the United States Senate Sam Caligiuri swung by to rally the good folks in Branford. He’s one of the earliest candidates to call out Sen. Chris Dodd on his unacceptable behavior as a public servant.

State Rep. Vincent Candelora gave a report on the state budget, and confirmed the peoples’ opinion on the behavior of his Democrat colleagues up in Hartford. (No photos of solitaire were required!)

And, Third District’s Candidate for U.S. Congress Boaz ItsHaky rounded out the group, expressing the need for strong Republican principles at the local level in order to bring commonsense policy to the nation’s capital.

The Boaz ItsHaky for Congress campaign wishes Selectman John Opie and all the Republican candidates of Branford much success in the upcoming election!

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown. It is the Jewish New Year. And, like any other change of the year, one is called on to look back at where we were, and at the same time, look forward to where we’re going.

Lately, much has been made in the mass media about the tone set by conservative and libertarian activists. As one should expect, the most widely broadcast images reflected demagoguery, which left-wing commentators used as evidence of intolerance and hatred, rather than focusing on what caused the emotions in the first place.

That’s a given. Because this is politics. And it is not new.

When President George W Bush was in office, Democrat demagoguery exceeded and expanded old boundaries of acceptability. Fast-forward to the present, and liberty-minded Tea Parties and tax protests are doing the green thing: recycling old Democrat demagoguery!

Is it good? No. Anger and passion are never far from hot-button issues, but boundaries of taste and respect were put in place for a reason.

Is it unpatriotic? No. America is blessed with a fountain of tolerance and freedom, and has never yielded to authoritarianism. Using nazi symbolism as an eye-catcher in protests is tasteless but not illegal.

Ironically, legal or civil efforts to suppress the rights of protesters is more likely to vindicate the authoritarians of the past than obnoxious protesters waving paper signs decked with swastikas.

What’s concerning is the boundary of taste and respect being shoved completely out of view by Democrats. Former President Jimmy Carter seized hold of the spectre of race and has wielded it as a weapon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone much further:

“The Speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination. Such insulting rhetoric not only undermines the credibility of her office, but it underscores the desperate attempt by her party to divert attention away from a failing agenda,” Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The Democrats have taken unacceptable actions to keep the dying healthcare debate on life support. But their tone is likely to be adopted and recycled by their Republican opponents. And then what? Shall we have to bear lectures on the barbarity of the modern political discourse? Or witness a conflagration of more and more demagoguery?

As the Jewish New Year heralds a year before the next general election, we earnestly hope and pray our patriotic demagogues on both sides of the aisle turn away from garish sign-waving and name-calling. And, that our conservative and libertarian friends will invest their energies in a real grassroots effort to halt the growth of authoritarian government and educate the people about sound fiscal policy, commonsense legislation, noninvasive regulation, and responsible politics in Congress.

Shana Tova!

A particularly brutal piece of legislation has been passed. H.R. 3221 is called The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), but it neither aids students nor does it remotely suggest fiscal responsibility. Naturally, Rep. Rosa DeLauro is the loudest champion of this intrusive and ultimately abusive bill, and its passage was by a strict party-line vote.

According to the Congresswoman, H.R.3221 “reforms the system of federal student loans to save taxpayers $87 billion – and invests $77 billion of those savings back into education, particularly by increasing funding for the Pell Grant program and creating an Early Leaning Challenge Fund to increase high-quality early childhood education and development for low-income children.”

Ordinarily, people cannot contradict themselves after only two words, but Rep. DeLauro does. Taxpayers CANNOT save $87 billion and spend $77 billion of the same money at the same time. They can’t even save $10 billion of what’s left over.

That’s because We the People will be on the hook for an additional $50 billion, and any student who applies for a taxpayer-subsidized government-controlled loan will have to perform community service (yes, much like convicted criminals currently have to).

According to Neal McClusky at CATO@Liberty, the CBO reports that this thing will cost an additional $50 billion. The CBO identified a net cost to taxpayers of about $600 million a year. Then it estimated SAFRA would cost an additional $33 billion after accounting for lending risk. Now, CBO estimates the cost of expanding Pell grants could be almost $11 billion greater than estimated. If you add all of those things together, the cost of SAFRA has flipped from a promised $10 billion savings to a $50 billion loss.

Meanwhile, all of the subsidies that the government hands out as Pell grants will be prohibited from going to private lenders. Only government lenders will handle Pell Grants, meaning the private student loan industry is finished. (This sounds a bit like that “government competition in health insurance”)

The reason for this is because provisions of the GIVE Act and Rep. DeLauro’s own Summer of Service Act demand students and young people for a civilian “volunteer” corps. H.R. 3221 fulfills the body count. Of course, volunteering in GIVE-speak will mean “serve or don’t go to college” for many young adults.

Finally, many opponents of H.R. 3221 denounce a $500 million grant to the Department of Education in order to design a national curriculum. Its being called unconstitutional, since providing education is the domain of the states, not the federal government

The collision of government-managed student loans, compulsory community service, a national curriculum, and national pre-school is a shocking intrusion into the lives of our young people. And, Rep. Rosa DeLauro on the wrong side of the issue again.

UPDATE: 03/19/2010 3:33PM. SAFRA has been attached as Division III of H.R.4872, the Health care reconciliation bill. But Title VI, the Defund ACORN Act, has been left off the bill.The sex-slavery activists at ACORN will continue to receive public funding to advise criminals on how to import, enslave, exploit, and sexually abuse vulnerable women and children.

Happy Constitution Day! Yes, exactly 222 years ago, on September 17, 1787, the most important legal document in world history was signed by the state delegates to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia. It was ratified by the state of Delaware in 1789, and many other states followed suit. Our great nation has been growing and prospering ever since.

The document itself is a little rough around the edges, but the laws penned on its surface have ensured the personal liberty of each and every American when he or she stands before the federal government.

Let’s work together to make sure this noble achievement never yellows and fades from the conscience of our elected legislators or from the President of the United States, whose first job is to guarantee all bills she or he signs into law are Constitutional.

Here are two sections of our Constitution that deal with Congress:

Section 8 - Powers of Congress

• The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

• To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
• To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
• To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
• To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;
• To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
• To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
• To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
• To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
• To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
• To provide and maintain a Navy;
• To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
• To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
• To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And
• To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9 - Limits on Congress

• The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
• The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
• No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
• No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.)
• No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
• No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
• No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
• No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

While the Boaz ItsHaky Campaign crew was scattered across the globe this summer, visiting family, looking up old friends, and enjoying a little R&R, the 111th U.S. Congress fast-tracked Rep. John Dingell’s H.R. 2749, which we called the “Fear of Food Act.” It passed the House 283 to 142 (Roll Call no. 680) with a good number of Republicans joining on the third vote.

Now, Rep. Rosa DeLauro had warned us that “sometimes the dangers that threaten the safety and health of American families … lurk in our fridges and on our kitchen tables.” The Congresswoman adds, “And yet, for too long, the cornerstone of our food safety system – the FDA – has had only ancient tools and an outdated mandate at its disposal.”

By this, Rep. DeLauro means the FDA could not hand out higher fines, and didn’t have a mandate to target local family and organic farms. Until now. Because that’s who will be targeted by the newly empowered FDA inspectors. It’s typical Washington irony that Reps. DeLauro and Dingell proposed legislation in response to a deadly salmonella outbreak in a large food production facility, and yet the legislation effectively exempts largest producers by virtue of their ability to comply. (That’s not a misstatement, but the harsh reality of this legislation: it gives the big PAC donors a pass while putting the screws on the small operations.)

Anyway, its the opinion of some obvservers that FDA did have enough inspectors and tools to spot salmonella threats, but still failed to do so!

Much like the IRS, whose auditors famously target thousands of small businesses for every corporation, the FDA inspectors will go after the local and family-owned organic farms while strategically avoiding large production facilities and international agro-corporations. Its a matter of laziness: small targets rarely have a cadre of lawyers at hand like the large facilities. And yet, our fridges and dinner tables are likely to have products from the large corporate farms.

Worst of all, small family-owned farms and organic producers are expected to pay astronomical permits to pay for the FDA’s expansion, which will create fields of paperwork and auditing. For example, an annual registration fee of $500 is imposed on any “facility” that handles food. But for what? To pay for FDA paperwork handling? In addition, warrantless searches of business records, directives on farming methods, widespread quarantine powers, excessive penalties are all part of the new American farming experience.

Frankly, H.R. 2749 incorporates the very worst of Rep. DeLauro’s much-maligned H.R. 875. The only real difference between Rep. Dingell’s bill and Rep. DeLauro’s is that the Congresswoman’s splits the FDA, creating the Food Safety Administration to handle the excessive bureaucracy that will arise from the new regulations. No doubt, Rep. DeLauro will have to strip H.R. 875 of redundant passages should H.R. 2749 be signed into law.

For the sake of our farmers, let’s hope it doesn’t.

Its September. Another one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s extended vacations is over. Another relaxing month at a gorgeous secluded villa is in the past. Time to go back to Washington and “do the peoples’ work.”

With a majority in the House of Representatives and a super-majority in the Senate (vacant Massachusetts seat notwithstanding), the veteran incumbent Democrats should have no problem enacting every single piece of legislation that falls in their lap.

So why the trouble over this health care reform? Why is the public being given a chance to speak its mind, to question the ruling party, to raise awareness of their fears? Why hasn’t the Democrat leadership solidified itself and pushed forward on the national healthcare plan (hr676.org says) everybody really wants?

Now, H.R. 676 is the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. It proposes to widen the current Medicare system to cover everyone in the United States. There are 92 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

With a formidable list of supporters such as this, with a critical piece of legislation such as this, and a powerful mandate from the 2008 elections that gave the Democrats absolute legislative and executive authority, what’s holding them back? (A few town hall meetings that have gotten ugly?)

So, as the veteran incumbent Democrats file into the Capitol building to hear from the President of the United States on how important healthcare reform is, I’m dropping the gauntlet and making a challenge:

Vote on H.R. 676! Go on! If the Democrats really have a mandate from the people, if they really know what’s best for all of us, if they are truly convinced private insurance is broken and only the government can take care of us, then they must vote on the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act and pass it! They must do what they feel is right.

Shouldn’t they? Isn’t that why they think they were elected to office?

According to key Democrats, the town halls are an extension of right-wing talking heads, not representative of the true feelings of the people. There should be no difficulty dismissing rabble-rousers, paid demonstrators, and trouble-makers in order to pass real reform everybody wants.

Make no mistake. If nationalized healthcare was passed, it would be popular (at least to start). If its cheap, people will pick it up in an instant. There is little doubt that people would drop their expensive plans to adopt a cheap government alternative. That’s what happened in Hawaii when the childrens’ health plan was open to all. (Of course, the system went bankrupt in a matter of months. Some legislators did not consider that middle- and upper-class people might want free coverage for their children too.)

Only problem is, the government has never really been in the business of satisfying customers, Medicare included. Private sector insurance is notorious for fighting claims, but they have also designed plans with a view to satisfy their customer’s wishes regarding coverage and care. Otherwise, the customers might shift over to another carrier. (By contrast, H.R. 676 proposes WYSIWYG satisfaction: “What you see is what you get.”)

So, come on, incumbents! Find some backbone. Practice what you preach, and preach, and preach! Ignore your constituents and vote on Medicare for all!

I dare you.

Boaz ItsHaky

Without a doubt, the “Picture of the Week” has got to be Connecticut lawmakers engaged in rousing games of solitaire and other computer distractions during the legislative session. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but this one’s been generating millions of words, and more than a few four-letter adjectives. This picture is poignant simply because it quickly defines precisely what everyone has long suspected about our legislators:

The debate is useless. Boring. They already made up their minds about an issue long ago. Or someone made it for them. Therefore, its time to take a nap or play a game. Even when the state is wracked by a budget crisis unlike any other in recent history.

Hopefully, this photograph will still be in circulation come election day.

A few days ago, Rep. Eric Cantor offered an intriguing idea: why waste $400 billion of stimulus money on unstimulating projects? Why not recycle the money? Why not use unspent stimulus funds to pay down our national debt?

Since we know [the Stimulus] has been a failure, why not do the responsible thing, which is to take the $400 billion that has not been committed yet - or not been spent, but been committed to the stimulus - and just pay off the debt and deficit so we can get our fiscal house back in order?

Here is a video of Rep. Cantor on CNBC, detailing his concerns about the Stimulus:

Some may think the Republic leader’s suggestion makes no sense. “How can you pay down the debt with money that’s already part of the debt?” It’s a valid question. The best way to help reduce the deficit is to simply cancel the remaining portion of the Stimulus. That would make the deficit $400 billion smaller, and reduce our interest burden by billions every year.

However, Rep. Cantor’s offer to divert stimulus funds over to the deficit is necessary to spare the pride of the veteran incumbent Democrats. Call it political expediency: There’s not one Democrat who would vote for the cancellation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA (pronounced ERROR). It would be an admission of failure.

Therefore, the only real alternative to complete waste is to shift those $400 billion into paying off older federal loans with higher interest rates. The difference of a few percentage points between the old loans and the new loans taken out this year will save America untold billions. And, not requiring Democrats to admit complete failure would make the vote more palatable.

Still, its virtually impossible to see Democrats signing on to Rep. Cantor’s idea. (Least of all Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who put in more hours than the average Democrat to get the Stimulus package passed.)

From the beginning, it was obvious that ARRA is the biggest pay off to Democrat supporters in history. And canceling or transferring the remaining funds means there would $400 billion less of the largess to pass around to friends and campaign supporters before and after the 2010 elections.