Free Republic

Back in October of 2009, when Congress first announced the formation of a commission to investigate the cause of the 2008 financial crisis, I knew immediately that their ultimate conclusions would support the agendas of their respective political parties. (Watch the video blog I recorded that day) Particularly, I knew that the commission's Democrat majority would use the crisis to justify more government involvement in the financial markets. These concerns have now been fully validated. Given that I was one of the few people who had accurately predicted the magnitude of the housing bubble, and had laid out in my...

President Obama is expected to call for increased spending on R&D and infrastructure during Tuesday's State of the Union address, according to reports. The president is also expected to call for a decrease in corporate tax rates as part of his recent pro-business offensive that has already seen the appointments of executives William Daley and Jeffrey Immelt to senior advisory roles, and a promise to reduce onerous regulations. (See: Obama Shows His True Colors ... and They're (Still) PRO-Business) But talk is cheap and Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, says President Obama is "clueless" about what the economy...

The global economy has become so unbalanced that even government ministers who would normally have trouble explaining supply or demand clearly recognize that something has to give. To a very large extent the distortions are caused by China's long-standing policy of pegging its currency, the yuan, to the U.S. dollar. But as China's economy gains strength, and the American economy weakens, the cost and difficulty of maintaining the peg become ever greater, and eventually outweigh the benefits that the policy supposedly delivers to China. In the first few weeks of 2011 fresh evidence has arisen that shows just how difficult...

Subtitle :('Poll-tested politicos are what Washington insiders want'). In the early fall of 2009, just before I announced my candidacy for the U.S. Senate, I was introduced to a number of Washington-based political analysts and journalists. Among the group was Stuart Rothenberg, writer of the Rothenberg Political Report, a classic "inside the Beltway" publication targeted at those whose lives and livelihoods revolve around national politics. His acerbic comments regarding my candidacy in the months that followed reveal the enormous chasm that separates the real world from Washington. I presented myself to Mr. Rothenberg as a major-party candidate (Republican) with no...

The United States Postal Service announced this week that all future first class postage stamps sold will be the so-called "forever stamps" that have no face value but are guaranteed to cover the cost of mailing a first class letter, regardless of how high that cost may rise in the future. Currently these stamps are sold for 44 cents, but will increase in price if and when the Post Office hikes rates. Apart from sounding the death knell of the one cent stamp, the news is interesting on two fronts: it provides insight into remarkably irresponsible government accounting, and it...

There is an old adage on Wall Street: no one rings a bell to signal a market top or bottom. Yet, I have found that bells do ring; it's just that few people know exactly what sound to listen for. Perhaps the biggest and most liquid of all markets is for US government bonds. That market has been rallying for almost thirty years. The bull can be traced back to 1981, when Treasury bond yields peaked at about 15%. At that time, high inflation and a weakening dollar had justifiably squelched demand for Treasuries. Even the ultra-high interest rates were...

This week Washington displayed the kind of "bipartisanship" that will bankrupt our country and wreck our currency. Coming at a time when both parties say they want to address our long-term fiscal imbalances, the compromise extension of the Bush era tax cuts should be a wake-up call to anyone who somehow expected the American leadership to ever have an "adult conversation" about the country's long term economic health. The administration and Congress are prepared to take the bold political move of not raising some taxes while significantly lowering others and greatly expanding Federal benefits. The entire cost of the $900...

Today's payroll report severely disappointed on the downside and left economists scratching their heads to explain the weakness. The explanation, however, is plain as day. As I have been saying for years, the US economy will not create jobs as long as the Fed keeps interest rates artificially low, and Congress keeps stimulating spending and consumer debt, punishing employers with mandates, regulations, and taxes, crowding out private investment with massive government borrowing, and preventing market forces from restructuring our out-of-balance economy. As new data comes in that continues to bolster my hypothesis, the politicians in Washington continue to follow the...

- via HyscienceSarah Palin blasts Obama for defending the QE2 in her new post titled "Obama’s Clever Way to Punt the Tough Calls: Driving the Dollar Down": In his press conference on Monday, President Obama responded to critics of the Federal Reserve’s decision to start a new round of quantitative easing – a fancy term for printing money out of thin air. He claimed this move would drive up U.S. growth rates. He also warned that “the worst thing that could happen to the world economy, not just ours but the entire world’s economy is if we end up being...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evNqcFiGDLQ

Of this season’s crazy, contentious, wide-open Senate races — in Ohio, Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada — none is as wild as what’s going on in Connecticut. In one corner: Democrat Richard Blumenthal, 64, state attorney general since 1991 and favored to win, up by over 40 points in the polls until this spring, when he was caught lying about having served in Vietnam. In the opposing corner: Republican Linda McMahon, 61, until last fall the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), billionaire and political neophyte. Since spending $22 million of her fortune, McMahon beat out GOP contenders Peter Schiff (campaign...

The Peter Schiff for Senate campaign released a new ad, titled “Kick”, which reveals the strong liberal ties of Linda McMahon, Schiff’s Republican primary opponent in the Connecticut US Senate race. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMKP2UHeOa8 McMahon, a former wrestling promoter, has defended the Wall Street bailout, which a majority of Americans oppose, and made donations to Democrats including Rahm Emanuel, former Congressman and now chief of staff to President Obama.

... The following comments by Forbes were included in an email from Schiff to campaign supporters: “I have known Peter Schiff for several years. He has a deep knowledge of finance and economics. He had long warned of the troubles we now face. As your citizen-Senator he will be a fierce fighter for cutting spending, cutting taxes and repealing Obamacare.”

Who's Right--The "Stimulators" Or The "Austerians"? Peter Schiff Jun. 28, 2010, 9:03 PM Despite the apparent deficit-cutting solidarity that emerged from this weekend's G-20 meeting in Toronto, it is clear that the great powers of the industrialized world have not been this philosophically estranged since the end of the Cold War. Ironically, in this new contest, the former belligerents have switched sides - the capitalists are now the socialists, and vice versa. We now are witnessing a struggle between two camps that I playfully call the "Stimulators" and the "Austereians." Both warn that a worldwide depression will ensue if governments...

http://www.europac.net/media/PeterSchiff_05-26-2010.mp3 Finally, Peter Schiff talks about Sarah Palin Positive about her and would like her endorsement and hopes to talk to her one day and find out if she's truly legit for himself. C'mon Sarah, Endorse Peter!

http://schiffforsenate.com/?q=press-releases/schiff-earns-spot-primary-ballot

U.S. Senate candidate Peter Schiff, a Tea Party favorite known for his gloomy predictions about the U.S. economy, has qualified for the Aug. 10 Republican primary. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said today that Schiff gathered enough petition signatures he needed to challenge the endorsed Republican, former wrestling executive Linda McMahon. Rob Simmons, who qualified for a primary at the Republican State Convention, has curtailed his campaign, but he said today his name will remain on the ballot as well. "It doesn't change my thinking at all," Simmons said. "I am remaining on the ballot." Schiff, 47, the president...

Associated Press AP Political Writer June 7, 2010 HARTFORD, Conn. Connecticut elections officials are investigating whether Weston businessman Peter Schiff violated state laws by using out-of-state workers to collect signatures to petition his way onto the Republican primary ballot for U.S. Senate. In a complain obtained Monday by The Associated Press, James Bancroft, who said he was a founding member of the Hartford tea party group, claimed he was approached by a Schiff supporter outside a store in Newington last week and asked to sign a petition. Bancroft said he struck up a conversation with the worker, who said he...

But Simmons, who hinted in an interview earlier this week that he wouldn't continue the battle for the nomination if he lost at the convention, announced late Friday he would carry the fight into the Aug. 10 primary. ... But Schiff said that he would take advantage of Connecticut's open primary law and petition his way onto the Aug. 10 primary ballot nonetheless.

From Jim Hoft at Gatewaypundit. Connecticut Senatorial candidate and the man who warned America about the housing bubble and the ensuing financial collapse, Peter Schiff is at it again. This is well worth the listen because he explains why he believes the economy is in worse shape than in 2008 and headed for another collapse.