Posted by John Tate on 09/10/09
Last updated 09/09/09

Your hard work in this historic movement to Audit the Fed continues to pay off!

Thanks to the thousands of Campaign for Liberty members who have tirelessly dedicated themselves to spreading the word, gathering petitions, and putting continuous pressure on Congress by calling, writing, and faxing, Congressman Ron Paul informed C4L today that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank has officially agreed to hold hearings on HR 1207! The hearings are tentatively scheduled for Friday, September 25 at 9:00 am.

Your efforts have resulted in Washington's most secretive institution having to defend itself before the media, the American people, and now at a House hearing specifically focused on transparency.

This exciting victory is only one more achievement in a battle that we must see through until the end.

Contact your representative and senators and urge them to cosponsor HR 1207/S 604 if they have not yet done so. If they signed on, tell them it is imperative that Audit the Fed receive a standalone, up or down vote on its own merits. Full transparency in our nation's monetary system is too important to be a minor footnote in yet another massive Washington bill, and C4L will vigorously oppose any attempts to include HR 1207 in a regulatory reform package that increases the Fed's power over our economy and lives.

Less than a year ago, a thorough audit of the Federal Reserve wasn't on anyone's radar. Now, we have the support of seventy five percent of the American people, almost two thirds of the House of Representatives, nearly a quarter of the Senate, and an official hearing before the House Financial Services Committee!

There will be more exciting information to follow soon, but I wanted you to know right away.  Now is the time to turn the heat up even more.

Together, we will finish this fight!

 
Posted by Heather D on 09/01/09

From the office of John Tate:

"As many of you may have heard by now, recent statements from Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, have indicated that the House will vote on Audit the Fed in the next few months.

However, rather than voting on HR 1207 as a standalone bill, many in Congress hope to roll it into the comprehensive regulatory reform package recently proposed by the White House.

This reform package grants new, more comprehensive powers to the Fed and strengthens the government's control over our economy. C4L and other friends of liberty stand in opposition to this proposal, as well as any other attempt to convert this historic movement for transparency into yet another rubber-stamping of politics as usual.

It is imperative that Audit the Fed come before the House and Senate on its own merits."

Three-fourths of Americans now support this audit as it stands, and we must demand that it is passed unadulterated.

If your Representative has co-sponsored HR 1207, demand that they pass the bill on it's own merits in it's current form.

If your Representative has NOT co-sponsored HR 1207, demand that they get on board and pass the bill on it's own merits in it's current form.

Click here to find contact information for your Representative.

 
Posted by PhilipSantaMaria on 07/12/09

ATTENTION MIAMI-DADE COUNTY!

It's our job to get Rep. Kendrick Meek on board with co-sponsorship.

Whether you are in District 17 or not, you should have been incessantly calling, emailing, faxing, even writing actual letters to both local and D.C. offices.

Start by calling today and simply tell whoever picks up the phone that you want your Congressman to not only support---and this is very important---but COSPONSOR HR 1207!

We need to get our Representatives on top on this bill!!!

We have These Eighteen Florida Districts Final: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, 25.

Here is a current list of Florida Co-Sponsors:

* Rep Bilirakis, Gus M. [FL-9] - 5/4/2009
* Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] - 6/11/2009
* Rep Brown-Waite, Ginny [FL-5] - 5/20/2009
* Rep Buchanan, Vern [FL-13] - 3/17/2009
* Rep Crenshaw, Ander [FL-4] - 5/4/2009
* Rep Diaz-Balart, Lincoln [FL-21] - 7/10/2009
* Rep Diaz-Balart, Mario [FL-25] - 6/18/2009
* Rep Grayson, Alan [FL-8] - 3/11/2009
* Rep Kosmas, Suzanne M. [FL-24] - 6/17/2009
* Rep Mack, Connie [FL-14] - 5/12/2009
* Rep Mica, John L. [FL-7] - 5/12/2009
* Rep Miller, Jeff [FL-1] - 3/24/2009
* Rep Posey, Bill [FL-15] - 2/26/2009
* Rep Putnam, Adam H. [FL-12] - 4/28/2009
* Rep Rooney, Thomas J. [FL-16] - 4/22/2009
* Rep Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana [FL-18] - 4/28/2009
* Rep Stearns, Cliff [FL-6] - 3/6/2009
* Rep Young, C.W. Bill [FL-10] - 6/3/2009

Don't see your congressman on the list!?? ACT NOW!!

 
Posted by PhilipSantaMaria on 05/12/09
Last updated 05/12/09

Other articles available here: http://www.examiner.com/x-10118-Miami-Young-Conservative-Examiner

The GOP has two choices.  Two strong candidates will go head to head in the primaries.  Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio has announced his campaign.  And Governor Charlie Crist is expected to announce tomorrow.  Indeed, two well known candidates in Florida.  But two conservative candidates in Florida?  Well, if you answered with an exhilarating yes, please read on.

In this article, we will focus on Charlie Crist, who flat out endorsed Barack Obama's bailouts---print and borrow money--- saying it's "what's good for the people."  So, we can say with complete confidence that Crist thinks inflation and debt is good for the people.  This has to do with the source of money alone, not where it goes.  Sure, a little bit of money came into Florida to fill our budget...

Yet everyone seems to forget yesterday's news.  Billions of dollars were sent to banks, insurance groups, and investment banks like JP Morgan, AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America etc.  If you want the full list, here's a website that puts things into perspective: http://bailout.propublica.org/main/list/index.  

This was Bush and Obama's plan.  Giving taxpayer money to 578 recipients who acted unethically knowing that the government had their backs.  This is called Moral Hazard.  It is the opposite of the free market.  It's corporate welfare!

The result has been a government response that is not too aligned with our nations traditional beliefs.  The government will forgive bailout loans in exchange for stock.  The government loaned so much money to banks knowing they would not be able to pay the loans back.  The government deliberately wanted ownership of the banking system.  

The government simply wanted more control.  Not surprisingly, of course, as the government's natural inclination is to gain more control and power. 

The fact that Crist has had a smug smile in the face of all of this information leads me to conclude that he is either unfortunately unaware of the facts or chooses to ignore them for the sake of a career in politics.  The litmus test for conservatism doesn't even apply to Crist.  He may be a Republican party member, but in no way shape or form has he been an economically conservative governor.  In no way has he restrained the encroaching federal government by promoting state sovereignty.

Challenging Charlie Crist in the Senate race is Marco Rubio.  Rubio is a noted Crist critic.  He often speaks out about Crist's climate change and gaming policies.  First, I will critique those policies.  Afterwards, we'll delve deeper into Rubio's work.

Today, someone like Charlie Crist, who would be placed far to the left of Sen. Taft in economic policy and environmental policy, is known as the middle of the road candidate.  He's the centrist.  And he's gained many suporters on both sides of the aisle this way.  It's smart politics, for sure.  He's very good at building a political career.  I would say that his political party affiliation could be switch and the same people would still be pleased.  

There's evidence of his centrist outlook in gaming. If you want to limit government and protect liberty, there is a extremely strong argument for gaming legalization.  On the social liberties side of the coin, the government should not restrict the behavior of an individual if it results in no injuries, victims, or infringements on other people's liberties.  The economic liberty side, the free market side, would argue that the government should have no say in how I spend my money.  

This is the classic "stay out of my wallet and personal life" argument that the Republican Party used to embrace after WWII.  This was in response to FDR's social and economic interventionist policies.  So the Republicans, notably Sen. Robert Taft, resurrected the classical liberal ideas of the previous century.  

Republicans literally embraced free minds and free markets.  Sen. Taft's nickname was actually Mr. Republican!  The Republican party led by Taft was philosophically very libertarian (they would roll over in their graves if they saw George W.).

Marco Rubio takes a position counter to Charlie Crist when it comes to gaming.  It's known as the socially conservative position.  However, if you believe in limited government and liberty, a socially conservative outlook ...well, isn't too conservative when you think about it.  Especially when this social behavior is actually economic behavior.  

Where Crist wants citizens of Florida to be able to head to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino and be free to have a good time, Rubio says that this behavior is degenerate.  He wants laws against gaming which he claims stem from his childhood years of growing up in Las Vegas.  

However, it is noted that he is a recipient of campaign donations from Calder Race Track.  Rubio said that he has never wavered on his position, which is true.  But one would think that he would return the donation out of integrity.  Well, he didn't.  He banded with the Christian Coalition of Florida (a group of social conservatives) to oppose gaming altogether.  

Rubio often about the negative effects of gaming.  What about the negative effects of prohibition of a behavior in which free people obviously and frequently partake?

What's more important, government regulation or freedom?  As a conservative, I don't like when the government doesn't give me a choice!  And if Rubio is interested is using the Christian Coalition as backers for his anti-gaming agenda, you know they are going to want a favor in return.  This scares me as the Christian Coalition's idea of a conservative is George W. Bush--laughable on all fronts!  This is how the game is played.  Point to Charlie Crist. 

As far as the environmental policies of Crist's office go, South Florida is a special case.  Normally, I favor the most localized and decentralized control possible.  Since the Everglades spans many counties, it makes sense for it to be handled by either a multi-county board or the state of Florida.  

Noting the ecological effects that bad policy has had on our land, all Floridians should move away from the corporatist angle of conservation.  It is in the guise of free market environmentalism and stains the name.  To read more on that, read this brilliant work by Murray Rothbard: http://www.mises.org/story/2120.  Also, google: "Republicans for Environmental Protection".  

Corporatism has a huge hand in the Republican party (and Democratic Party too).  But conservatives should be opposed to state policies influenced by corporations.  It's a small step away from economic fascism.  Unfortunately, I have never heard or read these words from Rubio's mouth: Rothbard, Austrian Economics, Mises, Hazlitt, etc.

Conservationists have favored Crist's moves for the everglades.  Conservatives in Florida should follow the mantra that conservation is conservative.  We conserve our land and resources by not letting corporations trash our right to life, liberty, and property!  

Our life is our health which is affected by our natural water reservoirs and air quality.  Our liberty is our ability to live in South Florida free of multinational corporations that restrict our efforts for conservation by lobbying hard against it--yet they don't live here.  And our property is Florida.  More specifically, our property is South Florida.  

We need to be smart stewards of our property.  We need to keep it free from foreign interests.  But we must always remain alert of the government.  The state is never trustworthy.  Government promises are often flipped.  And governments in history have done far more damage to the environment (China, U.S.S.R.).  

It's simple.  You can't own the air.  You can't own the rivers and the water that flows out of your property lines.  You can't own more than a plot.  You can't pollute that which you do not own.  This is a strict violation of private property rights.  And since Rothbard's ideas don't seem to be catching on in corrupt Florida, we need to keep an eye on Crist's promises and hope, and with much scrutiny, hold him and his pals accountable.  This is the only way citizens benefit.

- Philip Santa-Maria

http://www.examiner.com/x-10118-Miami-Young-Conservative-Examiner