SheeplePeople.com

We’re Winning the Drug War

No, we lost the second it started. It’s unbelievable to me that we would blindly go down this road again. After all, it was just 40 years earlier when we had the slap in the face that Prohibition gave us. We are STILL paying for Prohibition. By outlawing alcohol we created enormous profit margins for criminals. Criminals used those profits to build empires that persist to this day (the Mafia).

Think about it. If a product or service that is in high demand becomes illegal what is the first thing that happens? Profit margins go up. Once the allure of riches becomes apparent, then those that don’t respect the law will begin delivering those illegal goods and services. When those criminals feel that they’ve been taken advantage of, or ripped off - do they turn to law enforcement? Well…sure, the stupid ones might… but most realize they must take matters into their own hands. Criminals use their profits to build armies. Criminals kill each other and innocent bystanders that get in the way. In the most desperate neighborhoods and countries, druglords are the law.

By making drugs illegal we have turned Columbia into one of the most dangerous places on planet earth. Mexico is rampant with drug money pay offs and even the military is bought and sold by powerful cartels.

Federal, State, and local government spent roughly $50,000,000,000 (50 Billion!) last year enforcing and prosecuting drug crimes in 2007. Despite the costs in money, lives, and damage to society — most high school children have easier access to illegal drugs than they do to alcohol.

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Filed under: War on, Drugs by admin 18 Comments »

No…

Government intervention will make the problem worse.  Didn’t we already experience what happens when government interferes with the free market while Carter was president?

Speculation makes markets react faster and increases liquidity.  Without liquidity the market could be much worse and subject to larger price fluctuations.

Speculators are not the problem.  The number 1 problem is government created:  The Gulf War has cost 600 Billion dollars.  Rather than force Americans to pay for this in taxes, the government has borrowed and printed money.  This has caused the dollar to crash in value.  Oil is a commodity, just like gold, copper, and steel.  All of these items have gone up in dollars as the dollar has gone done in value.

If the dollar held it’s past value, oil would be under $100 a barrel.

Besides the crashing dollar, other significant causes are:  increasing demand from Asia, decrease in new discoveries, subsidized gas in China, and high per capita consumption in the U.S.

Speculation is a debatable factor.  I don’t think it hurts us, but I know government interference will!

Filed under: Stupid People, In the News, Free Thinkers, Suckered, Missed the Point, Dollars & Sense, American Economy, US Dollar, Oil prices, Falling Dollar, Regulation by admin 5 Comments »

Those of you who are sick of big government Democrats and bigger government Republicans are really screwed this upcoming election.

You can reluctantly vote McCain, who is likely to continue spending $150 Billion a year to fight a war halfway around the world. He’s also likely to allow government to continue over spending and intruding into more and more of our lives.

Or you can go with the leftist Obama, who is likely to reduce spending on war and use that money to completely ruin the tattered free market economy here at home. Are you looking forward to $25/hr unionized workers at Wal-Mart doing a worse job than they do now?

Either way, devalued American dollars and the loss of our lead in the world is likely. It’s a sad fact, but those are the choices and nothing short of a miracle will change it. America is on a downhill trajectory for the next 4 ½ years (at a minimum) no matter what you do.

Sure, maybe you’ve heard of Bob Barr (most haven’t). And maybe you know he’s against the War in Iraq and against Nationalized Health Care. If any candidate would actually reduce the cost and intrusiveness of government, it’s Bob Barr. But… you know, I know, and everyone knows: If you vote for the Libertarian candidate Bob Barr you might as well have voted for the communist democrat candidate Barrack Obama .

I say: “Who cares?” We’ve already established that McCain is likely to do nearly as much damage at home and 200% more damage in foreign policy¹. Besides overspending as much (or more) than Obama, McCain could also do even more lasting damage.

The next president of the United States could place more Supreme Court Justices than any other president in recent history. Why worry about McCain’s picks? Good question: Because conservative judges have a track record for ignoring the Constitution and legislating based on party lines, an evangelical interpretation of the Bible, or popular opinion.

The law of the land should not be subject to whim. You may believe that suspected terrorists shouldn’t get the same treatment as we give to suspected child molesters, suspected murderers, or the most evil of all: pot smokers. But the fact is, until proven guilty; a suspected terrorist is not a terrorist. Conservative judges recently pushed for less rights for suspected terrorists. The decision went against them, 5 to 4.

If law enforcement finds convicting suspected terrorists is easier, compared to other criminals, they will take the path of least resistance and start to push all criminals towards the ‘terrorist’ group. Already, the IRS uses the Patriot Act provisions on funding terrorism to go after offshore businesses that have absolutely no link to terrorism. Government is lazy, they will gladly trample your rights to go home early.

So what benefit could we get by voting for Bob Barr? Forget electing him, that’s is so unlikely it’s not worth considering. The real benefit is scaring the Republicans and Democrats back to the foundations of what made America great. Politicians pander (yeah, not news). If politicians see that 4% to 8% of the American people feel strongly enough about freedom, fiscal responsibility, and reduced influence of government in our lives – they will take action. Ignoring that 4% to 8% would cost many candidates the election. Democrats would likely adopt some of the libertarian platform. They might take on social issues, increase personal liberties, perhaps an end to the drug war. Republicans would adopt fiscal issues, maybe, for the first time, they would see reducing the size of government as crucial to reelection.

If both parties adopt a little of the Libertarian platform, maybe, just maybe America could reverse our decline. Perhaps we could again experience the amazing growth and innovation that personal responsibility, economic freedom, and less intrusive government brings. A small government would bring back the strong American dollar, the economy that was the envy of the world, and the respect of all other nations.

¹ SheeplePeople believes good foreign policy means minding our own business, keeping our money and valuable lives here at home.

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Filed under: Politics, Presidential Candidates, Barack Obama, Bob Barr by admin 6 Comments »

David and Elizabeth Lawson of TheSockObama.com have created a campaign year collectable item that is raising a serious controversy and cutting to the heart of racial tensions in America.

Jeanetta Williams, representing a local chapter of the NAACP called the cuddly sock monkey: “pure racism at it’s extreme.” Obama supporters are condemning the makers of the toy. Outraged Obama supporters have even gone so far as to post the Lawson’s name and home address online.

Have we all become ridiculously racially sensitive or do you believe the essence of racism is bound up in this plush doll?

David Lawson has expressed surprise at the strong reactions this toy has generated. Despite the negative controversy, sales have quadrupled.

Here is a quote from the company:

“To Those with Heartfelt Queries,We chose twenty-two customer queries today that we believe merit a response. You touched us with either your concern, intelligence, humor, sensitivity, and/or your thoughtfulness. We thank you. There are other queries we received today as well that we chose not to respond to, because of their spewing of venom and their aimlessness.

We at TheSockObama Co. are saddened that some individuals have chosen to misinterpret our plush toy. It is not, nor has it ever been our objective to hurt, dismay or anger anyone. We guess there is an element of naviete on our part, in that we don’t think in terms of myths, fables, fairy tales and folklore. We simply made a casual and affectionate observation one night, and a charming association between a candidate and a toy we had when we were little. We wonder now if this might be a great opportunity to take this moment to really try and transcend still existing racial biases. We think that if we can do this together, maybe it will behoove us a nation and maybe we’ll even begin to truly communicate with one another more tenderly, more real even.

This is only our introductory plush toy. If we choose to move forward with a Republican candidate, we’ll begin with an elongated and slightly lumpy, fuzzy Idaho potato. Had a different Democratic candidate won the nomination, we were prepared to move forward with the cutest, fluffiest 12″ chestnut and golden-haired squirrel, with a short Farrah-like do in a brown pantsuit and call her Squirellary.

In earnest folks, we’re so sorry we offended anybody.

Best Regards,

TheSockObama Co. www.thesockobama.com”

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Filed under: Politics, Presidential Candidates, Barack Obama, Racism by admin 2 Comments »

“Moral imperative” and “duty” are commonly heard call to actions for donating to the less fortunate.  Recently these appeals have been raised for the crisis in Myanmar.  And so we send supplies, food, clothing, and other necessities those in desperate times require.

Even a cursory investigation shows those donations are misused.  The Junta regime confiscates the supplies and either hoards or sells them to the masses.  By donating to Myanmar, we are propping up a ruthless, violent dictatorship that is responsible for some of the worst atrocities in modern times.

These facts have been raised.  The left seems to believe that doing something is our obligation.  When “doing something” means hurting the people we wish to help should we continue?

The left and many on the right would rather ‘feel’ like they are doing something rather than doing the right thing, which is nothing.  Yes, that’s correct, doing nothing is the best course of action.  Sometimes, meddling in the affairs of others only makes things worse.

After sending $500,000,000,000 to Africa over the last 30 years, Africa is experiencing poverty more severe than when the “War on Poverty” started.  It’s unfathomable that we continue with the same plan despite obvious indications over many decades that the situation is only getting worse.

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Filed under: War on, Poverty by admin 2 Comments »

“How do you know if a politician is lying? His lips are moving.”

Sure it’s an old joke, but the truth of it is inescapable.  Why do any of us even bother to listen to politicians in speeches and debates?  What they say is meaningless.  Most of the time they just spew platitudes and buzz words.  When they actually discuss their positions or make promises, then what they say means even less.

From listening to Hillary and Obama, you’d think they are against the war in Iraq.  Sometimes they even rail against the direction our government is taking with the Patriot Act.

So which of the leading candidates voted against the War in Iraq?  Not Hillary, she was for it.  Ron Paul was the only popular candidate with the wisdom to go against the majority in 2002.

In 2001 surely Hillary was against the Patriot Act!  Nope, she voted for it.  What about when it resurfaced in 2006, Hillary once again supports the right wing stance of giving up civil liberties to big government.

What about Obama?  He wasn’t in the Senate to vote for the War in Iraq.  But he did vote for the Patriot Act reauthorization in 2006.  Although he spoke against some of the provisions, ultimately he supported the Patriot Act.

There is only one candidate that has consistently stood by his position, whether it was popular or not:  Ron Paul.  If you want out of Iraq, if you want your civil liberties returned, support the candidate that has a proven track record of standing by his convictions.

By the time most of us are the voting age we should have learned the valuable life lesson:

“It’s what they DO, not what they SAY that matters.”

Unfortunately we are all too lazy to bother looking up the candidates voting records…

Filed under: Politics, Free Thinkers, Sheeple People, Truth & Lies, Presidential Candidates, Ron Paul by admin No Comments »

Fred Thompson (who bores me) gets a lot of coverage.  So I asked a web savvy friend this:

“Can you see how many searches there are for each of the republican candidates in the search engines?  I want to see where Ron Paul falls into that rank.  I’m really shocked that there’s been no mention of him in any media since he came in fourth last night at 8%, and Fred Thompson gets mentioned for getting 1%.”

The results shocked me.  My web guru replied: 

“OMG, I know!  It drives me crazy to keep hearing about boring old Thompson who has so little support when Ron Paul is fascinating - even to people that hate capitalism and free societies.”

Here are the results:

#1 Ron Paul 17,400/day

#2 Mike Huckabee 7,900/day

#3 Hillary Clinton 6,700/day

#4 Barack Obama 5,200/day

#5 Fred Thompson 3,500/day

#6 Mitt Romney 3,200/day

#7 Rudy Giuliani  1,900/day

#8 John McCain 1,720/day

#9 John Edwards 3,076/day

It surprised me to see Ron Paul has more searches than Hillary and Obama combined!

What the hell is going on?  How can the media be ignoring a candidate that so many want to know more about?  I feel like we are living in a Banana Republic with a controlled media.

He gets more donations that other candidates — they get bigger donations from Unions, Special Interests, and Corporations — but he has the ground swell support.  This is sickening!

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Filed under: Presidential Candidates, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, John Edwards by admin 3 Comments »

We Need Government to Manage the Economy.

Without government control over economic policy our economy would be in constant depressions…bull sheep!

If this was true then after every natural disaster government should be able to step in and bring things back to normal quickly.  How normal is New Orleans?  By some estimates the government has spent $400,000 per person affected by Katrina.  It’s still a disaster area.  When hurricane Andrew ripped apart South Florida government stepped in.  Years later the area was referred to as the “Blue Roof Land” — because roofing consisted mostly of blue tarp.  Government bungling had scared contractors away from the area.

Some may say:  “What about the Great Depression?”  This is a perfect example of the FedGov stepping in and making a mess.  Normally recessions and depressions last 1 to 3 years.  The Great Depression lasted nearly 14 years!  Some of Roosevelt’s harmful practices (part of the New Deal) were:  handing out jobs as political favors, forcibly setting ridiculously high wages, closing shops that stayed open too long, and removing capital from job creators to pay for it all!

Let’s keep it simple.  Businesses and individuals create jobs.  Government can only hire people when they remove capital from individuals and businesses that are the job creators.  Government then wastes 70% or more of this capital before finally using it to public benefit.

When the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to “soften” economic downturns they are also destroying the value of the U.S. Dollar.  In 2007 the stock market was up nearly 6%, but the U.S. Dollar lost 25% of it’s buying power to most of the world’s currencies.  By propping up Wall Street, government has hurt Main Street.  Consumers will find that oil and other essential commodities will cost them more USD.

Government should stick to protecting the rights of individuals and defending our nation from it’s enemies.  When government takes on more, we all suffer.

Filed under: Free Thinkers, Truth & Lies, Dollars & Sense, American Economy, US Dollar by admin No Comments »