The Dollar Bubble

This video ties into my earlier post, The Myth of Deflation.

The Separation of Marriage and State

Government marriage?

California’s vote in favor of Proposition 8 in November limited “marriage” to one man and one woman. Many who opposed this proposition were angry at certain demographics after its passing. Religious groups and blacks, who were overwhelmingly in favor of this initiative, received the brunt of the blame. However, they failed to look at who was the most to blame; the State of California.

Why is it the the state is in the business of marriage to begin with? Giving the government the authority to “marry” people only promotes limiting marriage. If one powerful group dislikes gay marriage, all they have to do to outlaw it is lobby their representative, or in this case, vote overwhelmingly as a block. However, if the government stayed out of the business of marriage and solely let religious/private organizations perform such functions, there would be less limitation. If you’re straight and your church performs marriages between a man and a woman, then get married there. If you’re gay and your church performs marriages for men or women, then so be it.

The only valid function the state government has in marriage is the civil union aspect between consenting adults. The state must uphold the legal contract made between the consenting parties. If Bob and Jim are married through their church, and have a civil union contract through the state, the state must protect that contract and enforce it if it is broken. If Bob dies, Jim will have a contract stating that Bob’s possessions are to be given to Jim; and vice-versa. If Emily is unconscious in the hospital and must receive medical care, Jane can authorize its use via their civil union contract with the state.

Penn Jillette said it best on Tuesday:

“I’m totally against straight marriage — even though I’m married. I don’t think heterosexual marriage is any of the government’s business. I think you make any contract you want, you know, if you want to marry several women, several men, you want to marry another man, another woman, anything — make a contract, make a civil union and get the government out of the business of who we have sex with.”

This post was based on the Campaign for Liberty’s article, The Separation of Marriage and State.

Auto Tune the News #3

The new music video of the comedic Auto Tune the News is out and has been receiving a lot of national attention. It was featured in countless web articles, and included an appearance on the Rachel Maddow show. The group “auto tunes” news from various talk shows with music they create. Their music has a Daft Punk meets R. Kelly feel to it.

Clueless Federal Reserve Inspector General

I’m not typically a fan of The Huffington Post, but they offered a great article recently detailing an exchange between Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and inspector general Elizabeth A. Coleman. (See video below)

Coleman could not tell Grayson what kind of losses the Fed has so far suffered on its $2 trillion portfolio, which has greatly expanded since September.

She appeared unaware that the Fed engages in trillions of dollars in off-balance-sheet exchanges.

She is not investigating the role of the Fed in allowing the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

She did not know where the Fed has invested its $2 trillion on the liability side of the balance sheet. “I do not know. We have not looked at that specific area at this particular point on,” she said.

This exchange highlights just how little anyone knows about what’s going on at the Federal Reserve. Since Congress delegated their Constitutional obligations to “coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin” to the Federal Reserve in 1913, the US dollar has been devalued 95%.

The Federal Reserve is immune from government audits, specifically, they are allowed to make make transactions between foreign governments and banks without any approval or oversight from the federal government. If the State Department did this, they would be considered a rogue agency and would be taken down by the Department of Justice. If a civilian did this, he would be tried for treason under the Logan Act. Yet, the Federal Reserve continues these policies without fear of either consequence.

There is a bill in the House that would allow for a full government audit into the practices of the Federal Reserve. H.R 1207 currently has 149 cosponsors and will most likely get a hearing within the House Financial Service Committee in the very near future.