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**Jim Nickerson** · September 25, 2009, 10:22 AM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by mikedev10 View Post

paul's quick stance on abortion: it's for the states to decide.

Paul is deep in his own end-zone, there's the snap, he fumbles the ball, but manages to get the punt off. The question is which of the 50 receivers will field the ball and what will happen with so many players on the field? Pure pandemonium!

**Mashuri** · September 25, 2009, 12:23 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by Jim Nickerson View Post

Paul is deep in his own end-zone, there's the snap, he fumbles the ball, but manages to get the punt off. The question is which of the 50 receivers will field the ball and what will happen with so many players on the field? Pure pandemonium!

You seem to favor a powerful centralized government. Ron Paul is a Constitutionalist Libertarian. He believes in the original framework of multiple competing governments.

**Jim Nickerson** · September 25, 2009, 12:28 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by Mashuri View Post

You seem to favor a powerful centralized government. Ron Paul is a Constitutionalist Libertarian. He believes in the original framework of multiple competing governments.

What I favor as it regards population explosion and abortion is that the world needs to get serious about the first, and needs to make the second a non-legal, non-governmental issue.

**Mashuri** · September 25, 2009, 04:36 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by Jim Nickerson View Post

What I favor as it regards population explosion and abortion is that the world needs to get serious about the first, and needs to make the second a non-legal, non-governmental issue.

How far should it go? Would you be ok with forced sterilization? A license requirement for giving birth? Hell, why not go to war with India and China? We could really scale back our population then. ;)

**Verrocchio** · September 25, 2009, 08:20 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by ThePythonicCow View Post

By this argument, most every important matter should be a Federal matter.

I will not cop out on my opinion of this argument.

No way.

The desire to "get things right" on a matter, even important matters, must be balanced with the necessity to minimize excessive concentration of power.

As Thomas Jefferson warned: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."

On the issue at hand, abortion, I agree with Ron Paul. It should be a state issue. It is entirely fine by me if the abortion laws in Utah differ dramatically from those in Nevada, to take the example of two geographically adjacent but socially divergent states.Until Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court, my recollection is that abortion was largely a state issue, and a far less politically divisive issue than since that decision. That was an unfortunate and misguided decision in my view.

PythonicCow, you have registered some astute comments in these pages, and a few of them are in this single post. As long as American political discourse is dominated by contention over emotional issues, players in the Big Games have the field to themselves to do as they will. This is akin to the old shell game.

If the electorate fails to move beyond these types of issues and the ideological frameworks they have been persuaded to adopt, they will not be able to grapple with the big problems of an unresponsive political class and endemic political corruption.

**Mayberry** · September 25, 2009, 08:51 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Jim 68, I gave money to Ron Paul. His contributions were mainly $50 and $100 from people like me. We did it mainly in money bombs. ($6 mill in one night !) I suppose I am in the IT row. I can appreciate how you feel about politicians but Ron Paul is different. He can not be bought, period. There is a new awakening, a quiet, peaceful civil war occuring. Witness the Tea Party in Washington. Be a part of it! It may be hard for you too, to forget all the lies we have been told, but one by one, millions of us are seeing the light and supporting Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and Peter Schiff too. My money goes because he will not have any special interests around him. One of a kind, 30 year track record, and each year he returns part of the money allocated for his office overhead as he does not need it.

**Jim Nickerson** · September 25, 2009, 11:09 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Here's a decent 9 min video of Michael Moore and Dylan Ratigan in which they discuss some of the current problems with politics and what can be done. For example publicly financed campaigns lasting six weeks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_300151.html

**Jim Nickerson** · September 25, 2009, 11:46 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

**Jim Nickerson** · September 26, 2009, 01:37 AM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by Mashuri View Post

How far should it go? Would you be ok with forced sterilization? A license requirement for giving birth? Hell, why not go to war with India and China? We could really scale back our population then. ;)

From your post, it seems you do not wish to give the problem any serious thought, or perhaps for you population growth on Earth is no problem at all. At 68 for me, what goes on in the next 25 years becomes increasingly less important and at some point of no importance.

Here's a link, the veracity for which I cannot vouch. Perhaps it is mostly correct. http://www.overpopulation.org/faq.html and perhaps for you or someone else inquisitve about what the future holds for people and the planet, there is something of interest, even importance.

1/3 of the population growth in the world is the result of incidental or unwanted pregnancies.

World Population Growth to Be Concentrated in Developing Nations. By 2050, world population is projected to reach nine billion, a 38% jump from today's 6.5 billion, and more than five times the 1.6 billion people believed to have existed in 1900. Demographers foresee declining, aged populations in many industrialized nations, and growing, younger populations in the developing world. If projections hold true, future global population growth will be heavily concentrated in Latin America [here the influence of Catholicism against any consideration for birth control I believe approaches something close to criminality, that is making people believe they'll go to hell if they practice birth control--the Pope and Catholicism have my unending contempt in this regard-JN] , Africa and South Asia. There is no natural growth in Europe, and the U.S. is very dependent on immigration. By 2050, Africa's population is expected to surge from 900 million to almost two billion, while South Asia's is projected to swell from 1.6 billion to nearly 2.5 billion. Europe's population is expected to shrink from 730 million to 660 million. Sobering words for African governments worried about population growth, or European governments concerned about an increasingly aged population, -- little can be done. Fertility rates will likely remain low in regions where babies are most-wanted, and highest in regions where poverty and hunger are prevalent. People are crowded in the cities and coastal plains. And that makes for problems. With higher density there are higher rates of crime, greater chance of epidemics. But population growth can generate a larger workforce and a bigger consumer base, which propel economic growth.

The 50 year projections can prove inaccurate, since they involve predicting the habits of a generation yet to be born. In low-income areas there is continuing population growth. That seems to be a good argument for getting policies right rather than trying to fine-tune the birthrate. Efforts by European governments to promote higher birthrates have met with little success. Many developing nations promote contraception and there is a common thread where those programs have proven most successful: the empowerment of women. Research has shown that even a few years of education can have a great impact on fertility rates. The US population is expected to increase by one-third by 2050. The US continues to receive immigrants, predominantly from Latin America, and they tend to have higher birthrates than the domestic population. Karen Gaia says: This article mixes fact with fiction. The U.S. is not dependent on immigration. March 07, 2006 Voice of America

33 Years Later: the Limits to Growth . Dennis Meadows, the co-author of "The Limits to Growth"�, which the Club of Rome issued in 1972 to spark the sustainability debate, says the Club of Rome was right in saying what it did. And since we have done nothing to address the concerns raised in the 1972 report, we have less time than before to take corrective action. The global population has grown from around 3.5 billion in 1972, to more than 6 billion today. Industrial production has gone from an index of about 180 in 1963 to more than 400. The index of world metals use has gone up more than 50%. The concentration of carbon dioxide has gone up increasing in 30 years by as much as in the previous 220. Mankind's "global ecological footprint" has gone from a sustainability level of about 90% of the earth's capacity, to 120%. We are beyond the sustainability point. We have not realised that we have crossed the sustainability limit because we are drawing down on nature's bank balance and that cannot go on indefinitely. We have already used up half that grace period. The challenge now is the population must stop growing, and we must change our consumption, because we cannot continue to make today's claims on the environment. India wants to get our income levels up from $600 per capita to at least $2,000, at which level there is no absolute poverty left. If you factor in what that will mean for energy and other non-renewable resources, it seems pretty obvious that what we have already seen in the markets for oil and iron ore are a foretaste of what is to come. Oil may already have reached the level of peak production, and what that means for the global economy is frightening. Does that mean that India and China should not aspire to what the developed economies have delivered by way of standards of living? It seems an unfair question when the west is unwilling to change its consumption habits. If neither happens, and even if some technological fixes can buy us some time, the message is straightforward. Things cannot go on as before. August 14, 2005 Business Standard (India)

Out of curiosity for anyone wishing to answer: When was the last time you heard a political candidate put forth his/her unsolicited plan to deal with what the US should be doing with regard to overpopulation of the planet? Most recently I recall the US prohibiting foreign aid if any of it was used for family planning, but that may have been under Bush, Jr., perhaps that has CHANGED under Obama.

At the next town hall you attend, ask the candidate (they are all candidates) what is his/her proposed remedy for overpopulation of the planet?

Shit, I'd almost go to a meeting just to ask that and to experience what a dumbfounded politician looks like.

Actually a license to reproduce children should be given all the serious consideration possible. Nothing normal/average people face probably represents a greater challenge than rearing a child. It won't happen in my lifetime.

Serious sex-education should be a required topic in all schools all over the world with emphasis on reproductive biology and voluntary methods of preventing pregnancy, and none of the "abstinence bullshit." Maybe even including pointers on fellatio and cunnilingus should be taught.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_contraception
http://www.bing.com/health/article.a...ing+after+pill

The second one discusses "the morning-after" pill (as if all intercourse amongst high schoolers takes place at night) and they cost ~25-40$ (may or may not be a lot for some kids, and if you're under 18, then you're SOL). So on a cost basis and age restrictions Plan B medication should be freely available to any young woman needing them. Of course if parenting were successful, then good daughters and sons would not be out there creating these problems, especially if they had some appropriate education to go along with their parental guidance.

I saw Paul had delivered 4000 babies. I suppose either he must have practiced obstetrics or was a GP in a sex-driven community. Does anyone know is he prescribed birth control pills or was that considered to be "murder" too? Serious question, anyone have an answer?

To my poorly informed perspective, the Republican Party's continued existence depends on the so-called religious right as follows from Wikipedia:
The Christian right, also known as the Religious Right and the Evangelical Bloc, is a term used predominantly in the United States of America to describe a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of conservative social and political values. The politically active social movement of the Christian right includes individuals from a wide variety of conservative theological beliefs, ranging from traditional movements within Pentecostalism, fundamentalist Christianity and Mormonism to the sections of Lutheranism and Catholicism that are theologically more conservative than their mainstream denominations.

Now if one is interested in politics in the US, to get ahead usually involves being either a Dem. or a Repub. So for whatever attracts one toward the Republican Party, unless one truly deeply within in one's "heart and soul" is embued with the true faith of Christianity (which I find hard to believe with regard to any Republican politician I've heard about) he/she ain't gonna make it very far as a Republican. I just wonder how many Republican politicians in their "heart and soul" are really atheists masquerading as Christians simply to get the vote. 100% would not surprise me. So perhaps here is another area of corruption amongst no telling how many politicians who wish to appeal to the salt-of-the-earth church-going voters.

**Jim Nickerson** · September 26, 2009, 12:26 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Amusing, to me, statement of derision for Congress by Barry Ritholtz 9/26/09 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/09...-of-two-evils/

I was invited to testify this week to the House Financial Services Committee about reform and regulation.
I politely demurred.

While I have been critical of the Federal Reserve (especially the Greenspan years), my beef with them has been their judgment and decision-making process. Congress, on the other hand, is a whole different matter. Its not their judgment, but rather, the fact they are owned not by the American people, but by lobbyists, and corporate interests. They have become structurally deformed.

How weird is it for me, who spent so many pages blaming the Fed for a lot of the recent crisis, to find myself in a position of defending them from outside political pressure? The choice we face is the recent Fed regime of secrecy, nonfeasance, irresponsibility, and easy money � versus something possibly likely to be a whole lot worse.

To be found in �contempt of Congress� would require an improvement in opinion of them.

If the Fed has been a major source of problems, Congress is much worse. They were the great enablers of the crisis, readily corruptible, bought and paid for by the banking industry. I find Congress to be the worse of two evils � lacking in objectivity, incapable of producing legitimate regulatory review.

If the Fed is Wall Street�s bitch, than Congress is the Street�s whore.

You can see why going to DC is probably a good way to get my ass thrown in jail. Most scenarios I envisioned ended with me trying not to respond with a list of the campaign donations that were made to the congressional questioner. I pictured myself responding not to the �Senator from the great state of Texas,� but rather, to the �Senator representing the great state of AIG.�

In my mind, these back and forths all go badly. I leave the great chamber � or rather, am led out � in cuffs.

If anyone can give me a good reason to spend a day in DC testifying to Congress, I am all ears. I was unable to think of any; maybe the crowd has some special insight.

**Jim Nickerson** · September 26, 2009, 04:39 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Here's a piece from today by John Mauldin (click pdf below), which could be an opening post in a thread of its own; however, to me it is a good look at the problem of unemployment and how population growth feeds into the worsening of that problem. EDIT:9:30PM here is direct link to article http://safehaven.com/article-14578.htm

IF the US is into some secular change in the ascension of quality of life that we have enjoyed over my lifetime--which I gather is not the lifetime of most readers here--then it seems clear to me that continuing unchecked population growth will certainly add to the misery in perhaps a secular decline in quality of life in the US. People wherever on the planet for whatever reasons that wish to continue production of new babies should consider what I think is a worthy goal for all those lucky or unlucky enough to join the future human population: as in my "signature" Dedicated to the idea that all people deserve a chance for a healthy productive life. B&M Gates Fdn.

Mauldin's pieces are usually on http://safehaven.com but this one is not up yet, so attached is the article in a pdf.

If things are actually going to get as bad as some around here and elsewhere I read believe, and the US Congress is to continue to be in the pockets of the oligarchs, then were I given to prayer and the belief that something supernatural could actually benefit all of mankind, then I'd get serious and busy with praying.

I heard a joke last night of a guy stranded on the roof of his house during a severe flood, and when two boats and a helicopter came by to rescue him he told them that God would save him, so he sent all three on their ways. He drowned and when he got to heaven he asked God "Why didn't you save me?" God replied "I tried; I sent two boats and a helicopter." Point being maybe all the answers are before us, people are just rejecting them, but I am not sure that is the case.

Actually the best answer that I can imagine that would not be incriminating to anyone except maybe "God" would be a worldwide virus that attacked and killed most people on the planet over aged 55. That would open up a lot of jobs, take most of us with Medicare and Social Security off the dole or off the hands of their progeny who support those of old age in other countries, allow what is left of congress to continue its present course, and allow those of you who are younger not to have to deal with any serious (or at least less serious) hardships until the planet succeeds in again achieving its present status. Alternatively the younger could just start killing us oldsters. Figure out a way to shoot one every day for a year or so--enough youngsters doing that would rid a lot of the problem. Just remember a lot of us here in Texas pack "iron," even some old ladies I know do.

Attached Files

mauldin-newnormal-deflation.pdf (340.4 KB, 2 views)

**Jim Nickerson** · September 26, 2009, 09:44 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

This strikes me as an apt summary of where we are and where we will end: ..the American Empire is finished.

Death of the American Empire.. by Clive Maund 9/24/09

http://safehaven.com/article-14562.htm

Originally posted by Maund

The general public, who never understood the global financial crisis in the first place, have been hoodwinked into thinking it's over. It's not. None of the underlying structural abnormalities, distortions and excesses within the global financial system have been addressed and rectified, because to do so in a meaningful way would involve allowing a constructive depression to purge the system of dross and parasitic elements (like much of government itself) in what would amount to a teardown and rebuild. Instead, the same crew who got us into this mess are still in charge, and their "solution" to the global financial crisis has been even more extravagant helpings of what created the mess in the first place - namely money and credit creation. This shameless procrastination has not and will not fix anything - all it has done is postpone the day of reckoning and guaranteed an even worse crisis later.

.
.
Since those in control of the US have demonstrated their unwillingness to allow recessionary forces to do their necessary work of correcting the extreme imbalances within the economy, there are only two options left - default and deflationary implosion - ruin, or a comprehensive takeover of the country by its creditors, both of which options probably occurring after a period of runaway inflation as the Fed and government desperately try to stop the inevitable. If the former occurs the shockwaves will reverberate around the world, like last year, and we can expect a collapse in commodity and stock markets. Until that happens it will be case of inflate and inflate, to forestall rising rates and liquidity problems, which will make gold and silver probably the best investments around, but you sure don't want to be around once the music stops. It is therefore to be hoped for the common good that the US authorities make the right decision and surrender to the mercy of their creditors before it's too late. Either way the American Empire is finished.

**Slimprofits** · September 27, 2009, 02:51 AM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by cjppjc View Post

Can we get a draft Paul movement going?

Would he accept?

Is it too much to ask?

Draft Paul for what? If he runs again, it'll be as a Republican candidate and we'll find out soon enough. In November they (as in the campaign) said they knew they had to decide by mid-2009.

His son is running for the Senate in 2010.

**nathanhulick** · September 27, 2009, 10:11 AM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by Jim Nickerson View Post

Show me an elected official who is not mainly supported in their campaigns by monied interests, and then you might be on to one who is mostly honest or least corrupt. Paul has a lot of money from special interest groups backing his last campaign according to http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator

They are all crooks.

Your post simply shows that you do not understand how donations are recorded and tracked.

The chart has nothing to do with special interest groups at all.

**Mashuri** · September 27, 2009, 03:04 PM

Re: The Most Corrupt Members Of Congress 9/22/09

Originally posted by Jim Nickerson View Post

From your post, it seems you do not wish to give the problem any serious thought, or perhaps for you population growth on Earth is no problem at all.

Quite the opposite. I just know that leaving population control to a small group of elites is a recipe for disaster.

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