While I can understand the initial aid flooding into Haiti, this article in the Wall Street Journal highlights another reason why foreign aid is a bad idea. In order for liberals to feel good about themselves, they take their fellow citizens money at gun point and hand it over to foreign citizens, which allows them to bypass their local business. So the people they want to help are actually hurt.

Business for Ilia Alsene, one of Haiti’s ubiquitous “marchands”—or merchants—who sell food and beverages at curbside stalls here, is a lot worse since the country’s devastating earthquake. But Ms. Alsene doesn’t blame the quake so much as the international relief effort that followed.

“I have fewer customers now because they are handing out free food down the street,” says the 52-year-old, pointing to the nearby Champs de Mars plaza where aid organizations regularly hand out food to tens of thousands of people camped there in tents.

But only a tiny fraction of that money is being spent in Haiti, buying goods from local businesses. Worse, the aid is having the unintended consequence of making life harder for many businesses here, because of competition from free goods brought in by relief agencies. The damage to Haitian companies is making it harder for them to get back on their feet and create the jobs the country needs for a lasting recovery.

Alex Zamor’s drinking-water factory is operating again at near full capacity after suffering damage from the earthquake. But he still hasn’t rehired 200 employees at the factory because sales are so weak. He blames free water handed out by the relief effort.

“Of course we welcome the relief, but nobody wants to buy water if there’s free water on the streets,” he says. Mr. Zamor says international relief agencies should be sourcing more of their products for the relief effort from Haiti itself. “We should be helping Haitian companies instead of companies in Florida,” he says.

Tom Adamson, a transplanted Canadian, runs one of only two mattress companies in Haiti. Three of his 10 retail stores around the country were destroyed, and his factory suffered minor damage. But he says the biggest effect from the quake has been increased competition.

In the weeks after the temblor, a mattress company in the Dominican Republic sent 10,000 foam mattresses for the relief effort, getting import duties at the border waived. He and U.S. officials say nearly all relief supplies don’t get charged import taxes. Meanwhile, Mr. Adamson’s mattress company has a container of chemicals used to make foam mattresses stuck for months in Haitian customs, where is still being asked to pay import taxes.

“Things like this make it very hard for me to compete,” he says

via Global Aid Is No Relief for Small Haitian Businesses – WSJ.com.

Why buy products from the local business who employs your neighbors, when you can get the products free from foreign aid. Why grown your own wheat when the US drops in all it’s subsidized corn, which drives the price of your goods through the floor? Oh, and don’t think for a second this corn and other goods are donated out of the goodness of the grower’s heart. King Corn gets paid for the corn with tax money stolen from the tax payers. I’m sure they love foreign aid. It’s just another opportunity for corporate welfare, and it makes it harder for the people that are supposedly trying to be helped get back on their feet.

Following up on my previous post.

BREAKING: FBI Raids Three Toyota Suppliers In Detroit

While Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda sits answering questions on Capitol Hill, the FBI confirmed with us they raided the offices of three Toyota suppliers in Metro Detroit for documents related to antitrust violations. UPDATE!

The FBI just confirmed to us they raided the offices of Yazaki North America, Denso International and Tokai Rika (TRAM). Though all are Toyota supplies they’ve yet to confirm if this is a part of an ongoing probe into Toyota’s 1.4 million unit recall, and a larger antitrust action confirmed by Toyota to MSNBC.

via BREAKING: FBI Raids Three Toyota Suppliers In Detroit – Toyota Recall – Jalopnik.

So, when will Japan start dumping our debt?

Great video I found on the Daily Paul.

All Republicans need to watch this. I don’t think they realize, while they are claiming they are for liberty, they are handing the government the tools to steal that liberty because of their foreign policy positions.

In case you missed my recent post on bipartisanship, Palin highlights my analogy of American politics being like bumper bowling. Palin loves acting like she’s above party, and she’s ready to take on either party. Then as she starts seeing her 2012 nomination in the crosshairs, she quickly says “Teapartiers, it’s been fun, but it’s time to forget all this anger against your government. It’s time to realize you have no say, so just pick an R or D and get back to work. The government needs your taxes.” I’m paraphrasing of course. She didn’t really say that, but that’s pretty much what she means.

Asked what her advice would be to conservatives as the November elections approach, Palin first lavished praise on the Tea Party movement, calling it “a grand movement” and adding, “I love it because it’s all about the people.”

But she quickly pivoted to the broader question of whether the Tea Party movement might successfully field its own candidates in national elections, and on that point she sounded far from convinced.

“Now the smart thing will be for independents who are such a part of this Tea Party movement to, I guess, kind of start picking a party,” Palin said. “Which party reflects how that smaller, smarter government steps to be taken? Which party will best fit you? And then because the Tea Party movement is not a party, and we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: ‘R’ or ‘D’.”

via Hot Air » Blog Archive » Palin to tea partiers: You’re going to have to choose between the parties.

Ah, Republicans love the tea parties until they realize the teapartiers don’t like them either.

So everyone thinks Obama has already blown his re-election. Republicans have been stacking up wins so far, and it’s expected for them to have a great year this year. What is the main issue voters are worried about? I think it’s safe to say the deficit and the economy, so although neither party cares or will do anything about either, who actually says something about it?

President Barack Obama praised lawmakers for restoring a measure that aims to bring federal spending under control in his weekly radio address Saturday, but expressed concern that politics may still get in the way of reducing the massive deficit.

Mr. Obama also vowed in his weekly speech to press ahead with an executive order to create a new bipartisan fiscal commission charged with recommending ways to reduce the deficit–a measure that has faced opposition from some Republicans.

“After a decade of profligacy, the American people are tired of politicians who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility,” Mr. Obama said.

“It’s easy to get up in front of the cameras and rant against exploding deficits. What’s hard is actually getting deficits under control. But that’s what we must do.”

via Obama Touts Return of ‘Paygo’ – WSJ.com.

Lol, I know. Obama seriously must be the most arrogant human alive. To believe  you can spend deficits, which I think would have been unimaginable just two years ago,  and then expect people to believe you actually care or will do something about deficits, has to be the height of arrogance.

Well, at least we can count on the Republicans right? They’ll really go after the deficits.

Meanwhile Saturday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.) in the GOP’s weekly address on criticized the Obama administration’s push to prosecute the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other co-defendants in a Manhattan civilian court.

Eh boy. Really guys? Everyone is worried about the economy and either the job they have or don’t have, and you are trying to ride this pony to victory again? Sorry, it is not going to work. This boogieman isn’t as scary as it once was, and it will not get you back into power. What do you think scares Americans more? The fact that our entire country is going to collapse under debt, or that the next underpants bomber might sneak through the strip show at the airport?

Yesterday, I was very disappointed with Glenn Beck’s smear of Debra Medina, who is running for Texas Governor. Apparently, Beck would rather have Obama or any other progressive in the White House as well as the majority in congress, as long as they say all 9/11 Truthers are whack jobs and should be publicly castrated.

Today, my mood was lightened by a great post by the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center. Click over to the Tenth Amendment Center for the full post. It’s definitely worth your time.

But, you know what? I’m not a detective, and I don’t have time to study the science, the clues, the mystery behind global warming or the global warming swindle as many people call it. So, if you had me on your TV show (sorry I wasn’t available when your producers asked last year, but I think my recommendation for a substitute worked out great!), and asked me:

“Michael – do you believe in this global warming scam, do you believe what the mainstream scientists are telling us about global warming – yes or no!?”

I’d have to answer this way:

“I’ve heard a lot of reports from reputable people on both sides of that issue. There are some very good arguments, and I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there, so I have not taken a position on that. What I do know is this, I don’t trust the government to tell me the truth.”

In response, would you then say that you’re “writing me off” and “writing the Tenth Amendment Center off” because I haven’t taken a position on this – and that a better source for state sovereignty information is now the Huffington Post?”

Well, that’s basically what you did with Debra Medina on your program this week. The one person in the Texas campaign who’s had the courage to speak out about the Constitution, about nullification and interposition, about the founders, about the principles of liberty that this country was founded upon. That one person is “written off” by you because she hasn’t “taken a position on” a conspiracy theory that may or may not be of interest to her or her campaign?

Wow. Obviously the Constitution isn’t very important to you. A person’s stance on a conspiracy theory is. Or maybe this is just your way of trying to marginalize one of the few candidates in the entire country running their whole campaign on the original view of the Constitution.

Is that it, Glenn? Because it sure seems that way.

Maybe the real conspiracy isn’t 9-11 or Global Warming or anything of the sort. Maybe it’s all about the establishment media, and people like yourself – is this your way of letting the hardcore constitutionalists out here know that you really prefer the establishment candidates?

What should be more important is a person’s stance on the Constitution. In fact, that’s ALL that voters should care about. Not their race, their background, their religious views, their positions on conspiracies or anything else. People are elected to follow the constitution – and nothing more.

What’s more important to you, Glenn – a person’s stance on the Constitution or their view of a conspiracy theory?

Don’t bother answering. You already have.

via A Question for Glenn Beck on Global Warming and Conspiracy | Tenth Amendment Center Blog.

A while back I wrote a post on a book I was reading, Patriots: A novel of survival in the coming collapse. The book was awesome. You can read my post here. Recently, the author had a post on his site about saving nickles. Here is part of the post.

I’ve often mused about how fun it would be to have a time machine and travel back to the early 1960s, and go on a pre-inflation shopping spree. In that era, most used cars were less than $800, and a new-in-the box Colt .45 Automatic sold for $60. In particular, it would be great to go back and get a huge pile of rolls of then-circulating US silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars at face value. (With silver presently around $15.50 per ounce, the US 90% silver (1964 and earlier) coinage is selling wholesale at 11 times face value–that is $11,000 for a $1,000 face value bag.)

The disappearance of 90% silver coins from circulation in the US in the mid-1960s beautifully illustrated Gresham’s Law: “Bad Money Drives Out Good.” People quickly realized that the debased copper sandwich coins were bogus, so anyone with half a brain saved every pre-65 (90% silver) coin that they could find. (This resulted in a coin shortage from 1965 to 1967, while the mint frantically played catch up, producing millions of cupronickel “clad” coins. This production was so hurried that they even skipped putting mint marks on coins from 1965 to 1967.)

Alas, there are no time machines. But what if I were to tell you that there is a similar,albeit smaller-scale opportunity? Consider the lowly US five cent piece–the “nickel.”

Unlike US dimes and quarters, which stopped being made of 90% silver after 1964, the composition of a nickel has essentially been unchanged since the end of World War II. It is still a 5 gram coin that is an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. (An aside: Some 1942 to 1945 five cent coins were made with 35% silver, because nickel was badly-needed for wartime industrial use. Those “War Nickels” have long since been culled from circulation, by collectors.)

According to www.Coinflation.com, the 1946-2008 Nickel (with a 5 cent face value) had a base metal value of $0.0677413 in 2008. That was 135.48% of its face value. (In recent months, with the recession, and a decline in industrial demand for copper, the base metal value of a nickel dropped below face value. But even at today’s commodities prices, you will start out at “break even” by amassing a stockpile of nickels.) I predict that as inflation resumes–most likely beginning in 2011–the base metal value of nickels will rise substantially.

via Survivalblog.com.

Then he posted a letter from one of his readers that had some tips on how to get your hands on a large amount of nickels.

Lessons learned

- Offer to take the nickels that they are sending back to the Fed. They save money in shipping and get paper money to put right back in circulation.

- Find a bank with a coin counter in the lobby. Those coins may be rolled up already and they will give you the nickels to save them shipping costs.

- When trying to cut a deal, be honest. When I went back to the first bank I told them why I was wanting nickels. We have been loyal customers of the bank and they have done right by us and were willing to work with me.

I found an interesting web site where you can buy $10,000 worth of nickels at face value and copper pennies at spot prices.

Thanks for all you do. Regards, – Cascinus, Jefferson City, Missouri.

via Letter Re: Stockpiling Nickels was Easier than I Had Thought – SurvivalBlog.com.

While I won’t be rushing out to buy nickels myself, it’s good info to know.  Personally, I’d be investing in some food storage and ammo first. Once you have those covered, nickles sound like a good idea.  It also doesn’t sound like a bad idea to just keep your nickels as you get them. Even better, I can probably tell my kids this, and they’ll gather all the nickles up for me. They’ll probably even con grandma and grandpap out of nickels….. Ah come on. We’ll take care of them when TEOTWAWKI hits.

I saw this pop up on Hot Air, so I had to check it out. While I don’t believe the government had a roll in 9/11, other than incompetence, does anyone see the irony in Glenn Beck acting like truthers are nut jobs? So I guess Glenn’s question your government with boldness only applies to his questions and conspiracies.

Six days ago, the big news out of Texas was that Tea Party activist and gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina came within the margin of error with Kay Bailey Hutchison, who barely clung to second place against incumbent Rick Perry. Today, Glenn Beck suffers heartbreak when Medina more or less cops to being a 9/11 Truther as well as a “constitutional conservative” candidate.

via Hot Air » Blog Archive » Heartache: Tea Party candidate in Texas a 9/11 truther.

Again, I don’t believe in the 9/11 Truther conspiracy, but I think it’s completely crazy that we would cast aside an awesome candidate who apparently Beck was in love with until this so-called revelation because she didn’t just say 9/11 truthers are completely nuts and I’d imprison everyone of them in Gitmo.

I guess the hypocracy shouldn’t surprise me, but unfortuately I’m a Glenn Beck fan, so it’s pretty disappointing. I guess he’d rather stick with big government conservatives and cast all his rants aside in pursuit of the 9/11 Truther witches.

Update: Medina Responds to Beck

I was asked a question on the Glenn Beck show today regarding my thoughts on the so-called 9/11 truth movement. I have never been involved with the 9-11 truth movement, and there is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11. I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way. No one can deny that the events on 9-11 were a tragedy for all Americans and especially those families who lost loved ones.

The question surprised me because it's not relevant to this race or the issues facing Texans. This campaign has always been about private property rights and state sovereignty. It is focused on the issues facing Texans. It is not a vehicle for the 9-11 truth movement or any other group.

The real underlying question here, though, is whether or not people have the right to question our government. I think the fact that people are even asking questions on this level gets to the incredible distrust career politicians have fostered by so clearly taking their direction from special interests instead of the people, whether it's Rick Perry and the his HPV mandate or Kay Hutchison and voting for the bank bailout. It is absolutely the right and duty of a free people to question their government. Texas does not need another politician who tells you what you want to hear, then violates your liberties and steals your property anyway. I fully expect to be questioned and to be held accountable as Governor, and that's the underlying issue here: should people be questioning their government. And the answer is yes, they should be.

via 2010: Medina Responds to 9/11 Flap | The Texas Tribune.

I came across this post on The Business Insider. Apparently, smarter folks than I are giving some of the same warnings I did in my post here.

MarketWatch has rounded up a few of the more pessimistic preditions about 2010.

A lot recommend buying farmland. Here are the gloomiest:

Former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson warns:

“We’re running out of time … to prevent a true depression.” He says unless we break Wall Street’s “stranglehold” we will be unable prevent the Great Depression 2.

Morgan Stanley research guru turned hedge fund manager Barton Biggs (pictured), who called the market rally, advises that you buy a farm a good distance away from a city and, he advises, make sure that your doomsday safe-haven:

* Be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food

* Be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc

And get a gun, he says, because “a few rounds over the approaching brigands' heads would probably be a compelling persuader that there are easier farms to pillage.”

Mark “Gloom Boom Doom” Faber also recommends buying farmland. Our society has peaked and is on the decline, he says:

“Once a society becomes successful it becomes arrogant, righteous, overconfident, corrupt, and decadent … overspends … costly wars … wealth inequity and social tensions increase; and society enters a secular decline.”

via Barton Biggs: Stock A Safe Haven With Food And Firearms To Protect Against Pillagers.

Happy New Year to all that happen to dwell upon these pages.

Hopefully, 2010 will go down in history as the year American’s began taking back their liberty. There are some good, liberty loving folks running for office like Rand Paul in Kentucky and Peter Schiff in Connecticut. With a big win by these guys, we can send a signal to Washington that the people are taking their liberty back.

Hopefully, we can all keep up the momentum this year. Have a great year everyone!