Chalcedon Blog

This parody is long overdue...

Ladies and gentlemen, this is huge. You're sure to hear more about it in the months ahead. South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford, says that his state will not request an extension in order to comply with the Real ID Act. This will mean South Carolinians will be required to go through more rigorous screenings into order to board airplanes and enter Federal buildings. Like other state governors, Sanford claims the Real ID policy will cost his state too much money and the results will not justify the expense. I'm sure this is the politico-economic reason. However, Sanford has got to understand the despotic nature of this draconian legislation.

It will be an honor to host an Evening with Chalcedon in Greenville, SC this weekend!

Crisis-reaction-solution is the modus operandi of the tyrannical state. You create or take advantage of a crisis which in turn creates a reaction within the populace. You then come in and offer the solution thereby consolidating and increasing your power. The present economic crisis on Wall Street, which Ron Paul sought to solve by abolishing the Federal Reserve, may be solved by granting the Federal Reserve even greater authority. New York Times writer, Edmund Andrews, began his article on the recent proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department with an appropriate description:

The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that Congress give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee financial market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the overall system.

The goal for the state or corporate power is always consolidation. This is when industries and power bases are progressively consolidated into fewer hands. This has happened in media, film, civil government, and now on Wall Street.

According to a summary provided by the administration, the plan would consolidate an alphabet soup of banking and securities regulators into a powerful trio of overseers responsible for everything from banks and brokerage firms to hedge funds and private equity firms.

"Powerful overseers" is the description to highlight. They will rule by intimidation as the Federal Reserve, and its shareholders, gain greater control of all Wall Street firms:

The plan would give the Fed some authority over Wall Street firms, but only when an investment bank’s practices threatened the entire financial system.

And who exactly will determine what represents a "threat" to the financial system? It's a very one-sided proposal. Our present problem was not "Wall Street firms" but the more risky hedge funds and reckless venture capitalists. These powerhouses of leveraged finance will NOT have any regulations placed on them:

And the plan does not recommend tighter rules over the vast and largely unregulated markets for risk sharing and hedging, like credit default swaps, which are supposed to insure lenders against loss but became a speculative instrument themselves and gave many institutions a false sense of security.

The proposal is being made by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr. who is the former head of Goldman Sachs which is a primary stockholder of the Federal Reserve. Hello? Is anybody out listening? Maybe he's just like Dick Cheney who "accidently" benefits his former company Hallirburton after coming to office. There appears to be a great deal of "accidents" like these within the circles of America's power centers.

That would be a significant expansion of the central bank’s regulatory mission.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Federal Reserve and its Wall Street counterparts ARE the problem. It's the fiat money system and fractional-reserve banking that has always diminished the strength of the U.S. economy and the wealth of the Middle Class. The Federal Reserve is NOT a government agency. As Michael Ruppert says, "It's about as Federal as Federal Express." You don't grant a private central bank that is destructive to an economy with MORE authority after a crisis transpires which IT created.

God help us.

Lyndon LaRouche, Jr. is either loved or hated. Standing in the tradition of FDR's goals through the Bretton-Woods System (a monetary system governing such relations between nation-states), anything set over against it is usually labeled as "fascist." However, LaRouche has an uncanny sense of prediction, and for a while now he has insisted that the financial oligarchy of London, Dutch, and Wall Street interests are setting the stage for a hostile takeover of the U.S. for the sole purpose of ending the "nation-state."

How will they accomplish this? Primarily by moving their presidential selection into the White House. Who is that person they've chosen to be president? None other than billionaire mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.

"But, wait a minute. Didn't Bloomberg say he wasn't running?" He sure did:



Compounding the evidence against LaRouche's prediction is the fact that two candidates from both parties are essentially selected: Obama and McCain. However, LaRouche predicts that after Hillary is fully discredited, an "Obama-gate" will begin which will remove him from the running. It's at this point that the fascist candidate, Bloomberg, will reverse his decision and enter the race.

Understanding the reasons behind this -- and understanding LaRouche's insight -- requires rethinking the concept of "privatization," and contemplating the stated of goals of oligarchical fascist players like George Schultz and Felix Rohatyn, and the interests they represent. Rather than try to rehash that myself, I've included a video from LaRouche, as well as a link to an article that visits this subject in greater depth.

It should be relatively simple to establish the veracity of LaRouche's forecast. If an "Obama-gate" takes place (meaning Obama will be "outed" and discredited), and Bloomberg enters the race, then LaRouche was right. If he is correct, then what follows a Bloomberg presidency is something every American should be concerned about. However, if he's wrong, then his critic's assessment of his integrity stands.

LaRouche supports the policy traditions of Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln. Hamilton was no doubt beholden to the vision for a great central bank in America, and it seems contradictory for LaRouche himself to be so contrary to banking interests. However, in this case, he seems radically opposed to a particular faction of the financial oligarchy--those seeking to create the new "city-state." I'll let LaRouche and Co. explain:

I'm often asked what by those making transition into the Reformed faith what authors I recommend they read. A great deal of them are typically advised to consult the one-dimensional Reformed writers of today. I won't name names, but if you tuned in to their radio programs, you'd likely hear another discussion about predestination or puritanical sanctification. I tell them, "Well, read that and get it out of your system. Then you can move on to the writers that'll turn your whole mental apple cart every which way but loose." I point them to the "applied Calvinists." I point them to the underground volumes by Dabney, Warfield, and Rushdoony.

I've heard Presbyterian pastors dismiss Dabney as "angry and embittered." Others have dismissed him as a racist and unworthy of consideration. I deem him a giant, and one of the greatest warriors the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has ever produced in its history. Like Rushdoony, a genuine prophetic mantle rested upon Dabney's noble, Southern shoulders. If you can read Dabney, and remain indifferent, you might want to check your conscience for the scars of searing. In that spirit, I'll spend a few posts to dump some Dabney on you:

"The best argument for any creed is the godly living of its professors. Protestantism used to have a grand and victorious advantage on that point. She is ceasing to wield it. The wealth begotten by her very virtues of industry, thrift, and probity has debauched many of her children. 'Jeshurun has waxen fat, and kicked.' And unbounded flood of luxury sweeps Protestant families away. A relaxed and deceitful doctrine produces its sure fruits of relaxed and degraded morals. Church discipline is nearly extinct. Meantime spurious revivalism, relying upon all species of vulgar clap-trap and sensational artifice, upon slang rhetoric and the stimulating of mere animal sympathies, instead of the pure word and spirit of God, is hurrying tens of thousands of dead souls into the Protestant churches. These evils have gone so far that a profession of faith in these churches has come to mean nearly as little as a professed conformity to Rome means." (R. L. Dabney, Discussions: Secular, Vol. IV, p. 545f)

George Galloway deals with one of the most important "unaddressed" issues in the modern world. Behind all the Middle Eastern unrest is the answer to this pressing question.

She'll not survive this one...

"Francis Schaeffer's Son: Dad 'Worse' than Obama's Pastor."

The thoroughly Jewish Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, is so because he holds a dual-citizenship with the nation of Israel, his father, Gershon Baruch Chertoff, was a full-time rabbi, and his equally rabbinic grandfather, a Russian immigrant, was a well-known scholar of the Talmud. His wife shares his credentials: Meryl, was a co-chairman of the regional Anti-Defamation League's civil rights committee. With his training in law, Secretary Chertoff played a central role in drafting the USA Patriot Act.

This man had a message for the states still holding out on the RealID Act:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had warned that if holdout states do not send a letter by the end of March seeking an extension, come May, residents of such states will no longer be able to use their driver's licenses as valid ID to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.

The three hold-out states are South Carolina, Maine, and Montana. They have not complied, nor have they sought extensions. The Talmudic bull, Chertoff, threatened:

"Showing up at the airport with only a driver's license from such a state will be no better than showing up without identification...No doubt this will impel many to choose the inconvenience of traveling with a passport."

South Carolina is threatening to sue the Federal Government--good on ya, SC! At least some state is resisting the Nazification of the American system.

SO, WHY, YOU ASK, AM I HIGHLIGHTING CHERTOFF'S JEWISHNESS? I'm so glad you asked!

You'd think for ALL the incessant wailing about the horrors of the Holocaust, and the evilness of the German Nazis, that an obviously devout Jew would be the first to ABHOR the path to fascism that the U.S. is taking. NOT AT ALL. This Jewish man is writing the legislation, heading up the American version of the Gestapo, and strong-arming independent states into compliance with a ridiculous law of bureaucratic tyranny, waste, and ineffectiveness. He is the worst kind of hypocrite.

Someone might offer the following defense for Mr. Chertoff: "Yea, but Chris, the difference is that WE had a 9/11 attack that justifies the need for such national security measures. 9/11 created the need for the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security. We're nothing like Nazi Germany." And how WRONG you would be!

It was after the 1933 terror attack on the German Reichstag building that the Nazis introduced the Enabling Act which transferred power to the executive branch of government. The fire created a "state of emergency." Hitler blamed the fire on the communists and said it represented an "internal" threat of a Communist revolution brewing in Germany. Simply replace "communist" with "Islamic terrorist," "Reichstag fire" with "9/11," "Enabling Act" with "Patriot Act," and "Gestapo" with "Dept. of Homeland Security" and you should see the obvious parallels.

To add insult to injury, the current U.S. president's grandfather, Prescott Bush, did have involvement in financing the Nazis during this period. Prescott was a part of the Harriman bank which was the primary Wall Street outfit supplying cash to German companies. After Pearl Harbor, the Union Banking Corporation (Prescott Bush, Director) was cited by the newly created Trading with the Enemy Act. So, you see, this administration is quite versed in the events and methods that created the German fascist system. However, there is no evidence demonstrating Prescott himself was a Nazi. Like much of Wall Street, there was simply money to be made in the new German economy that grew aggressively before the war.

As an interesting side note, the Guardian's reporting of Prescott Bush's financing of the Nazis stated that the only organization that came out in defense of Bush posthumously was the Anti-Defamation League.

Faiz Shakir should have his employment immediately terminated for espousing such blatant self-contradiction. Ron Paul is speaking to a wall.

Kevin Swanson and I discuss the question "Should Christians Take Over the World?"

Listen at Kevin's site

Since reducing the interest rate over and over again did not solve America’s woes, the Federal Reserve had to try something else:

On Tuesday of this week, the Fed announced a new plan that would inject $200 billion into the struggling banking system. Wall Street loved it and the market experienced its best rally since 2003. And what was the purpose of this injection of paper money? To state it simply, due to years of high-risk mortgages and other faulty loans, American banks are in trouble because of defaulted loans. Some have even estimated that the reserves held in our nation’s banks are as low or lower than they were before the Great Depression – a gift of our fractional reserve banking system. The goal of the Fed is to buy back the bank’s bad debts with paper Federal Reserve Notes (more debt) so that the banks can turn around and make “goodâ€� loans (read debt) with the new money. Oh, and this is a coordinated effort with other central banks that have announced similar measures of their own. These banks include the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank. This plan is to begin March 27, 2008.¹

In other words, they are using fiat money to buy debt so that more debt can be created. What this actually does is increase the rate of inflation and encourage more debt living while discouraging thrift and saving. Why save your money when its value is rapidly decreasing?

In 1980, gold reached an all time peak price of $850. Today, when factoring in inflation, gold would have to reach a $2,500 an ounce to match the 1980 price. Oh, by the way, for about two hours today, gold passed the $1000 barrier! Just seven years ago, it was trading in at under $300 an ounce.

My guess is that we will see the rate of inflation rapidly increase over the next several years. Although the present situation is severe, this phenomenon is always the end result to debasing a currency. In his telling commentary on inflation, R. J. Rushdoony encouraged people to protect their wealth by “converting one’s monetary assets into gold, silver, land, a home, the tools of one’s trade, and the like.â€�² However, these recommendations come with their own caveats. We should avoid acquiring these hard assets through debt. This only compounds the problem. But, if you can liquidate some of your existing portfolio into these more secure assets, you are better hedged against the deteriorating effects of inflation and confiscation by the State.

If you’d like to learn more about how to protect your wealth Biblically, I recommend the materials on economics which can be found at Chalcedonstore.com.

1. “Dow Surges 417 Points on Fed Plan,� Briefing.com - March 11, 2008 4:25PM EDT. Here is an excerpt:

On Tuesday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their largest one day percent gain since 2003 on the announcement of a coordinated central bank effort to increase liquidity in the financial markets. The major indices finished the day sharply higher, near their best levels of the session, thanks to broad-based buying interest.

The Federal Reserve announced a new Term Securities Lending Facility (TSFL). The Fed will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities to primary dealers secured for a term of 28 days, rather than overnight. The borrowers will be able to pledge a variety of collateral ranging from federal agency debt to private AAA rated residential mortgage backed securities (MBS). The auctions will take place on a weekly basis.

Basically, this plan stands to improve liquidity by allowing more thinly traded securities to be used as collateral to borrow highly traded Treasury securities.

The Fed also announced it is increasing its swap lines with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank to $30 billion and $6 billion, respectively. This equates to an increase of $12 billion.

This is a coordinated effort with other central banks, which announced measures of their own. Participating central banks include the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

2. Rushdoony, Rousas John, Larceny in the Heart: The Economics of Satan and the Inflationary State, Ross House Books (Vallecito, California), 2002, p. 13.

Labels: economics, Fed, Federal Reserve, inflation

By R. J. Rushdoony

Decapitalization means the progressive destruction of capital, so that a society has progressively less productive ability. Decapitalization is the dissipation of accumulated wealth (Prov. 14:23).

Some of the potentially wealthiest agricultural countries are importers of agricultural produce, such as Venezuela and Chile. The fishing-grounds off the Pacific Coast of South America are some of the richest known to the world, rich enough to feed the countries of that area.

Chilean fishermen cannot market fish properly and dump marvelous catches of fish into the sea, because they have neither storage nor transport to take their fish to the markets. Thus, there is neither a lack of labor nor a lack of markets for the fish, but necessary capitalization to provide the facilities for bringing labor, produce and market together is lacking.

Much of the world is in the same predicament: it has the labor, the natural resources, and the hungry markets for its produce, but it lacks the necessary capital to make the flow of goods possible. Socialism tries to solve this problem but only aggravates it because it furthers the poverty of all concerned. Socialism and inflation both accomplish the same purpose: they decapitalize an economy.

Inflation succeeds when people have larceny in their hearts, and the same is true of socialism. Socialism is organized larceny; like inflation, it takes from the haves to give to the have-nots. By destroying capital, it destroys progress and pushes society into disaster.

As the products of capitalization begin to wear out, new capital is lacking to replace them, and the state has no capital of its own; it only impoverishes the people further and therefore itself by trying to create capital by taxation.

Part of the reason why most Americans--especially conservative Christians--do not comprehend they genuine way power works in the U.S. is due largely to the fact that average citizens believe politicians and power-brokers are just like them. Newsflash... they're NOT! The power base of the Bush family goes back to the Harriman banking family, one of the richest, most powerful families in U.S. history. Prescott Bush--grandfather to the sitting president--was an executive in Brown Brothers Harriman, the oldest and largest partnership bank in the United States. The contemporary Bush family--in particular, George H.W. Bush--has benefited hugely from the Iraq war because of his involvement in The Carlyle Group, a weapons brokerage group, which, by the way, received investment money from the "good" side of the Bin Laden family. Benefiting from war is nothing new to the House of Bush. Great grandfather, Samuel Bush (father of Prescott Bush), served the U.S. government during WWI by awarding government contracts to U.S. weapons manufacturers.

CNN's Lou Dobbs spoke explicitly recently on the Alex Jones radio program about the great dangers that America faces in light of our political and economic crises. Alex Jones is a conspiracy theorist, but he restrains his more radical claims in this interview with the highly respected Lou Dobbs. I chose to feature these clips because of the forthrightness of Dobbs.

"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. "Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws."
Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey said.
"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue....read more...