Friday, September 28, 2012

Gary Johnson Polls: Why the CPD Decision to Keep Him Out of the Debates is Illegal

With the entire hubbub surrounding the replacement referees, and the third week of the NFL season ending with a controversial Green Bay Packers loss, you may have missed a major development in the election cycle of 2012.

Last week, I told you that the Gary Johnson campaign had decided to sue the National Commission on Presidential Debates for excluding him from the upcoming debates. Many may dismiss this story out of hand, simply because it’s just a third party trying to get some publicity. But we should not only pay attention to the story itself, but also why the CPD is legally bound to include Gary Johnson.

First, let’s discuss the legality issue.

The CPD was created in 1987 to “ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners.” According to its website, the CPD was granted and operates currently as a 501(c) nonprofit organization. This means that among other perks, the CPD enjoys the ability to conduct business without paying taxes.

But did you know that there are certain political stipulations that come with such a designation? IRS Exemption Requirements — Section 501(c)(3) Organizations state that such organizations may not be an “action organization, i.e., it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.” Furthermore, the IRS says that “the organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests.”

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Lieberman pushes Obama to issue cybersecurity executive order

Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman’s cybersecurity bill failed to gain majority support in the Senate in August, but now he is pushing for President Obama to issue an executive order to compensate.

Lieberman was the lead co-sponsor of the failed Cybersecurity Act of 2012, a controversial bill that sought to give the federal government regulatory control over the cybersecurity standards of water, power and utility companies.

Republicans, who offered their own preferred cybersecurity bills, battled the Democrats on the issue all the way to the August congressional recess.

In a letter to President Barack Obama Monday, Lieberman urged the administration to use the president’s “executive authority to the maximum extent possible to defend the nation from cyber attack.”

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PAUL KRUGMAN REFUSES TO DEBATE AUSTRIAN ECONOMIST FOR CHARITY

If New York Times columnist Paul Krugman debates Austrian economist Robert Murphy, a New York food bank will get over $73,000. Yet Krugman, who believes in income redistribution to help the poor, has refused to debate Murphy.

The author, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, says he does not want to debate in a “public circus.” Krugman has previously cited Murphy’s analysis of capital theory as “the best exposition I’ve seen yet of the Austrian view that’s sweeping the GOP.”

Murphy reportedly created a campaign at ThePoint.com two years ago that allows visitors to pledge money to charity if Krugman debates him. Murphy has even suggested that liberal Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein moderates the debate.

As of this writing, if Krugman accepts Murphy’s debate invitation, more than $73,000 will go to the Fresh Food Program of FoodBankNYC.org, a non-profit organization Krugman’s the New York Times says “delivers food to nearly all of the city’s food pantries and soup kitchens.”

If Krugman does not accept the debate, the food bank will receive no funds, and none of the people who have pledged money will be charged. More than $77,000 has been pledged so far.

According to blogger Brian LaSorsa, this situation is a win-win for Austrian School of economics:

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Ron Paul QE3 Predictions Are Already Proving to be Correct

It has been nearly two weeks since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the Fed would engage in another round of “quantitative easing” (QE3) by purchasing $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MGS) a month for the indefinite future and would be leaving interest rates near zero for the next few years.

Longtime Fed opponent and the staunch critic of Fed monetary policy Ron Paul issued a statement the next day regarding Bernanke’s actions.

“No one is surprised by the Fed’s action today to inject even more money into the economy through additional asset purchases, ” Paul said. “The Fed’s only solution for every problem is to print more money and provide more liquidity. Mr. Bernanke and Fed governors appear not to understand that our current economic malaise resulted directly because of the excessive credit the Fed already pumped into the system.”

It hasn’t even been a month yet since the Fed made their QE3 announcement, but Paul’s Austrian-based analysis would suggest that it will only continue to make things worse. By further devaluing the dollar, buying up near-worthless debt, and keeping interest rates near zero, the Fed is sending terrible signals to the economy while simultaneously not allowing the debt and malinvestment to be liquidated. Without this necessary correction, true economic production and growth can not be achieved. Paul’s recommendation of a “strong dollar and market interest rates” is once again being unheeded.

When QE3 was right around the corner, I argued in a PolicyMic article that “monetary injections” by the Fed tend to give the economy a short-term boost at the expense of steady, long-term economic growth (especially in election seasons when it is politically popular) and that Wall Street will do just fine since it is largely their paper assets and bad debts that will be propped up. But in the relatively short time since QE3 has been enacted, even the predictable short-term boost to the economy that defenders and proponents of monetary stimulus claim will result are already falling short.

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Ralph Nader Says Obama Is A ‘War Criminal’ Who Has Been ‘More Aggressive’ Than George W. Bush

Ralph Nader has called President Barack Obama a “war criminal” whose military and foreign policies have been worse than that of his predecessor George W. Bush.

In an interview with Politico, the former presidential candidate and leftist political activist said that Obama’s policies have been “more aggressive” and “more illegal worldwide” compared to Bush’s.

“He’s gone beyond George W. Bush in drones, for example. He thinks the world is his plate, that national sovereignties mean nothing, drones can go anywhere,” Nader told Politico.

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