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Grand Illusion - The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank
Politics / Central Banks Mar 10, 2009 - 06:20 AM

By: James_Quinn

So if
you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made

Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the
same.
We're all the same...

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get
yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on
Earth's this spell we're under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the
hell we are

Styx – Grand Illusion

The whole world is in a state of complete confusion. Americans are coming to
the realization that their lives have been a grand illusion. You thought your
neighbor had it made. They were driving a Mercedes, spent $40,000 on a new
kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, sent their kids
to private school, had a second home at the shore, and took exotic vacations all
over the world. Now their house is in foreclosure and you are paying to bail
them out. The anger and outrage in the country is at the highest level since the
Vietnam War. The American public is being misled by government officials,
politicians, and the Federal Reserve regarding the causes of this crisis and the
solutions needed to solve our economic tribulations.

The average American does not know much about the Federal Reserve. The
government and the Federal Reserve prefer to operate in the shadows. If the
American public understood what their policies have done to their lives, they
would be rioting in the streets. Henry Ford had a similar opinion:

"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand
our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a
revolution before tomorrow morning."

Most Americans believe that the Federal Reserve is part of the government.
They are wrong. It is a privately held corporation owned by stockholders. The
Federal Reserve System is owned by the largest banks in the United States .
There are Class A,B, and C shareholders. The owner banks and their shares in the
Federal Reserve are a secret. Why is this a secret? It is likely that the
biggest banks in the country are the major shareholders. Does this explain why
Citicorp, Bank of America and JP Morgan, despite being insolvent, are being
propped up by Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner?

The history of National Banks in the United States has been controversial
since the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. The
Constitution of the United States unequivocally states that only Congress has
the authority to coin money, not an independent bank owned by unknown bankers.

The Congress shall have Power
to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the
Standard of Weights and Measures

Article 1, Section 8 – US Constitution

Our most recent horrifying experience with an all powerful central bank has
led to the current worldwide financial crisis. In less than one century the
Federal Reserve Bank of the United States has destroyed our currency and has
allowed bankers to gain unwarranted power over the country. They had the ability
and opportunity to bring down the worldwide financial system.

When the average American is told that the dollar has lost 95% of its
purchasing power since the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1913, they look
at you with a blank stare and start wondering whether American Idol is on TV
tonight. The systematic inflation purposely created by the Federal Reserve
silently robs the average American of their standard of living. The CPI figures
published by the US government tell the story.

Year

Annual Average

Annual Percent Change
(rate of inflation)

1913

9.9

--

1914

10.0

1.0

1915

10.1

1.0

1916

10.9

7.9

1917

12.8

17.4

1918

15.1

18.0

1919

17.3

14.6

1920

20.0

15.6

1971

40.5

4.4

1972

41.8

3.2

1973

44.4

6.2

1974

49.3

11.0

1975

53.8

9.1

1976

56.9

5.8

1977

60.6

6.5

1978

65.2

7.6

1979

72.6

11.3

1980

82.4

13.5

1981

90.9

10.3

1982

96.5

6.2

2000

172.2

3.4

2001

177.0

2.8

2002

179.9

1.6

2003

184.0

2.3

2004

188.9

2.7

2005

195.3

3.4

2006

201.6

3.2

2007

207.3

2.9

2008

215.2

3.8

2009*

218.4

1.5

Source: BLS

The government began keeping official track of inflation in 1913, the year
the Federal Reserve was created. The CPI on January 1, 1914 was 10.0. The CPI on
January 1, 2009 was 211.1. This means that a man's suit that cost $10 in 1913
would cost $211 today, a 2,111% increase in 96 years. This is a 95% loss in
purchasing power of the dollar. For some further perspective here are the prices
of some other common items in 1913 per the Morristown Daily Record:

Boy's shoes for school, .98/pair Women's shoes, 2.00-8.00/pair
Bread,
.10/3 loaves Butter, fancy, .30/lb
Cereal, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, .09/box
Eggs, Fresh Western, .27/dozen
Peanut butter, .09/jar Toilet paper, .26/6
rolls
Daily Record [Morristown NJ], .01/daily paper

Notable on the CPI chart is that in the years following the creation of the
Federal Reserve, inflation ran at double digit rates to finance Woodrow Wilson's
foreign intervention into World War I. The other notable period was in the years
following President Nixon's closing of the gold window in 1971. This led to
rampant inflation that wasn't tamed until the early 1980's by Paul Volcker, the
only independent courageous Federal Reserve Chairman in its history. The figures
so far in the 21 st Century seem modest. This is due partly to the methodical
downward manipulation of the calculation by government bureaucrats. The period
from 2010 to 2020 will show a dramatic jump caused by all of the money printing
and reckless spending that is occurring today. Book it Dano.

The average American might just conclude that prices always go up, so what's
the big deal about inflation. This is where the Federal Reserve and politicians
have pulled the wool over your eyes. The CPI was 30.9 in 1964. Today, it is
211.1. This means that prices have risen 683% since 1964. The only problem is
that your wages have not risen at the same rate, even using the government
manipulated CPI. Using a true CPI figure, average weekly earnings are 64% below
what they were in 1964. This explains why a family of five could live well with
one parent working in 1964, but even with both parents working and using debt in
prodigious amounts, the average family does not live as well today.

Don't Know Much About History

The First Bank of the United States was created in 1791. Alexander Hamilton,
the 1 st Secretary of the Treasury, proposed this bank and convinced a hesitant
President Washington to agree. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were against the
concept. It favored the moneyed classes of the North versus the agrarian South.
The bank was given a 20 year charter and President James Madison let it expire
in 1811. He then renewed the charter in 1816. The wise men who took
unprecedented risks in declaring independence from England 's tyranny, feared
the tyranny of bankers equally:

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America
rise, not from defects in the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of
honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin,
credit, and circulation." - John Adams, in a
letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1787

"I believe that banking institutions are more
dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a
moneyed aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power
(of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to
whom it properly belongs." -
Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President -1802

[The] Bank of the United States ... is one of the
most deadly hostility existing, against the principles and form of our
Constitution... An institution like this, penetrating by its branches every part
of the Union , acting by command and in phalanx, may, in a critical moment,
upset the government. I deem no government safe which is under the vassalage of
any self-constituted authorities, or any other authority than that of the
nation, or its regular functionaries. What an obstruction could not this bank of
the United States , with all its branch banks, be in time of war! It might
dictate to us the peace we should accept, or withdraw its aids. Ought we then to
give further growth to an institution so powerful, so hostile?
- Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President -1803

"History records that the money changers have used
every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain
their control over governments by controlling money and its
issuance". - James Madison, U.S.
President

President Andrew Jackson was the first and only President in the history to
pay off the National Debt. He worked tirelessly to rescind the charter of the
Second Bank of the United States . His reasons for abolishing the bank were:

It concentrated the nation's financial strength in a single institution.

It exposed the government to control by foreign interests.

It served mainly to make the rich richer.

It exercised too much control over members of Congress.

It favored northeastern states over southern and western states.

President Jackson believed that only Congress should be responsible for the
issuance and control of the currency. Delegating that duty to powerful New York
bankers was distasteful to him.

"If Congress has the right to issue paper money, it
was given to them to be used ... and not to be delegated to individuals or
corporations" - President Andrew Jackson, Vetoed
Bank Bill of 1836

President Jackson, shown here "driving out the devils
and money changers"
with his order to withdraw public money from the central
bank - Edward Clay lithograph, published 1833

President Jackson's honesty and anger at the bankers should resonate today,
as bankers have again brought our country to its knees.

“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long
time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in
the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst
you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take
the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand
families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go
on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a
den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the grace of the
Eternal God, will rout you out.”

A President with Jackson 's strength of character would put the blame where
it belongs today. He would rout out these criminal bankers, rather than give
them more taxpayer money to squander. A President with a moral backbone would
put an end to the disastrous 96 year experiment of the Federal Reserve. Instead
our last two spineless Presidents have put Goldman Sachs bankers in charge of
our national Treasury. An examination of inflation throughout the history of the
United States proves that from the beginning of our nation through wars and the
Industrial Revolution, the country experienced virtually no inflation as our
currency was backed by gold. The creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 and the
closing of the gold window in 1971 unleashed a tsunami of inflation that
continues today.

1913 – A Bad Year for America

Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto in 1848. It included 10 planks.
Two of the ten planks were as follows:

A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

Centralization of credit in the hands of the State by means of a national
bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

The dates February 3, 1913 and December 24, 1913 framed a year which placed
our country on a downward fiscal spiral. The United States had tinkered with an
income tax during the Civil War and the 1890's, but the Supreme Court declared
it unconstitutional. Until 1913, the U.S. government was restrained from
overspending because it was completely reliant on tariffs and duties to generate
revenue. The Sixteenth Amendment changed the game forever.

“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes
on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the
several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”

When you give a Congressman a dollar, he'll take a hundred billion. The
initial tax rates of 1% to 7% were rather modest. That did not last long. The
top tax rate reached 92% during the 1950s and today rates are still 500% to
1,000% higher than they were in 1913. The government is addicted to tax revenue.
In 2007, they absconded $1.2 trillion in taxes from American individuals. Does
anyone think that the bloated government bureaucracy spent these funds more
efficiently or for a more beneficial purpose than its citizens could have?

Partial History of
U.S. Federal Income Tax
Rates
Since 1913

Applicable
Year

Income
brackets

First
bracket

Top
bracket

Source

1913-1915

-

1%

7%

IRS

2003-2009

6 brackets

10%

35%

Tax Foundation

Source: Wikipedia

Without $1.2 trillion in individual tax revenue, Congressmen would not be
able to add 9,200 earmarks to the current $400 billion Federal spending bill
every year. This is how they waste your money:

$1.8 million to research “swine odor and manure management” in Ames , Iowa
.

$41.5 million to upgrade presidential libraries of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Lyndon B. Johnson, and John F. Kennedy, according to the Heritage Foundation.

$2.9 million to study how to breed and raise shrimp on “shrimp farms.”
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) reports that since 1985 the federal
government has allocated $71 million to the study of shrimp science.

$209,000 to improve blueberry production in Georgia , according to CAGW.

$200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills , Calif.

$5.8 million for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate in Boston
, according to the Heritage Foundation.

$6.6 million for Formosan subterranean termites, also according to
Heritage.

Rothschild, J.P. Morgan & the Federal Reserve

"Those few who can understand the system (check book
money and credit) will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent
on it favors, that there will be little opposition from that class, while on the
other hand, the great body of people mentally incapable of comprehending the
tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear it burdens
without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is
inimical to their interests." -
Rothschild's Bros. of London

The House of Rothschild had been the dominant banking family in Europe for
two centuries. They were known for making fortunes during Panics and War. Some
claimed that they would cause Panics in order to take advantage of those who
panicked. The Panic of 1907 was the used as the reason for creating the Federal
Reserve. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis attributed the causes of the
Panic of 1907 to financial manipulation from the existing banking establishment.

"If Knickerbocker Trust would falter, then Congress and the public would
lose faith in all trust companies and banks would stand to gain, the bankers
reasoned."

J.P. Morgan (1837-1913)

In 1906, Frank Vanderlip Vice President of the
Rockefeller owned National City Bank convinced many of New York 's banking
establishment that they needed a banker-controlled central bank that could serve
the nation's financial system. Up to that time, the House of Morgan had filled
that role. JP Morgan had initiated previous panics in order to initiate stronger
control over the banking system. (Picture slimy Mr.
Potter offering the members of the Bailey Building & Loan, 50 cents on the
dollar for their shares during a bank panic in the classic movie Its A Wonderful
Life). Morgan initiated the Panic of 1907 by circulating rumors
that the Knickerbocker Bank and Trust Co. of America was going broke, there was
a run on the banks creating a financial crisis which began to solidify support
for a central banking system. During this panic Paul Warburg, a Rothschild
associate, wrote an essay called "A Plan for a Modified Central Bank" which
called for a Central Bank in which 50% would be owned by the government and 50%
by the nation's banks.

In November 1910 a secret conference took place on Jekyll Island off the
coast of Georgia . Those in attendance were: JP Morgan, Paul Warburg, John D.
Rockefeller, Bernard Baruch, Senator Nelson Aldrich, Colonel House, Frank
Vanderlip, Benjamin Strong, Charles Norton, Jacob Schiff, and Henry Davison. Out
of this meeting of the most powerful bankers and politicians in the country came
the plan for a Central Bank. This conference was unknown until 1933. In 1935,
Frank Vanderlip wrote in the Saturday Evening Post : "I do not feel it
is any exaggeration to speak of our secret expedition to Jekyll Island as the
occasion of the actual conception of what eventually became the Federal Reserve
System."

Behind the scenes these powerful men were formulating the plan for a Federal
Reserve System. There was no outcry from the public to implement this plan. The
public knew nothing of this. The Aldrich Plan was renamed the Federal Reserve
Act and pushed forward by Paul Warburg and Colonel House. Warburg essentially
wrote the Act and pressured Congressmen to see his way or lose the next
election. Colonel House, who had socialist leanings, was the top advisor to
President Wilson.

The Glass Bill (the House version of the final Federal Reserve Act) had
passed the House on September 18, 1913 by 287 to 85. On December 19, 1913, the
Senate passed their version by a vote of 54-34. More than forty important
differences in the House and Senate versions remained to be settled, and the
opponents of the bill in both houses of Congress were led to believe that many
weeks would elapse before the Conference bill would be taken up. The Congressmen
prepared to leave Washington for the annual Christmas recess, assured that the
Conference bill would not be brought up until the following year. The creators
of the bill then pulled the ultimate scam on the American public. In a single
day, they ironed out all forty of the disputed passages in the bill and quickly
brought it to a vote. On Monday, December 22, 1913, the bill was passed by the
House 282-60 and the Senate 43-23. This meant that the single most important
piece of legislation ever passed by the Senate was missing the votes of 26
Senators because it was passed during the Christmas recess. President Wilson, at
the urging of Bernard Baruch, signed the bill on December 23, 1913. A few years
later, President Wilson had second thoughts:

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my
country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our
system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be
one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated
governments in the world--no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a
government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the
opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men."

There were some brave Americans who did oppose this legislation and foresaw
the devastation that it would lead to.

“Throughout my public life I have supported all
measures designed to take the Government out of the banking business. This bill
puts the Government into the banking business as never before in our history.
The powers vested in the Federal Reserve Board seen to me highly dangerous
especially where there is political control of the Board. I should be sorry to
hold stock in a bank subject to such dominations. The bill as it stands seems to
me to open the way to a vast inflation of the currency. I had hoped to support
this bill, but I cannot vote for it cause it seems to me to contain features and
to rest upon principles in the highest degree menacing to our prosperity, to
stability in business, and to the general welfare of the people of the United
States.” - Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge – Dec 17, 1913

“From now on, depressions will be scientifically
created.” -
Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. - 1913

John Maynard Keynes, the current hero of the Obama administration and Paul
Krugman, had this to say about the Federal Reserve in 1920.

“Should government refrain from regulation (taxation), the
worthlessness of the money become apparent and the fraud can no longer be
concealed. By this means government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the
wealth of the people and not one man in a million will detect the theft."

Mandate from Hell

According to the Federal Reserve's own website, their duties fall into four
general areas:

Conducting the nation's monetary policy by influencing the monetary and
credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable
prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.

Supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and
soundness of the nation's banking and financial system and to protect the
credit rights of consumers

Maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic
risk that may arise in financial markets

Providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S.
government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role
in operating the nation's payments system

The American public was told that the Federal Reserve would eliminate any
future bank panics. From 1913 through 1920, inflation increased at more than 10%
per year as Wilson spent vast sums during World War I and its aftermath. From
the early 1920s to 1929, the monetary supply expanded at a rapid pace and the
nation experienced tremendous economic growth. Benjamin Strong, one of the
participants at the secret conference on Jekyll Island , was the Federal Reserve
head. By the end of the 1920s, speculation and loose money had propelled asset
and equity prices to unsustainable levels.  The stock market crashed in
1929, and as the banks struggled with liquidity problems, the Federal Reserve
cut the money supply.  This was the greatest financial panic and economic
collapse in American history so far - and it never could have happened
without the Fed's intervention.  The Fed caused the bubble with loose
monetary policy. The Depression did not become Great until the Smoot Hawley Act
in 1930 destroyed world trade and the raising of the top income tax rates from
25% to 63% in 1932 destroyed the incentive to earn money. Over 9,000 banks
failed and a few of the old robber barons' banks managed to swoop in and grab up
thousands of competitors for pennies on the dollar.

The Federal Reserve's primary mandates were maximum employment, stable prices
and moderate long-term interest rates. Their other chief function was to
supervise and regulate banks to ensure the banking system is safe. Lets assess
their success regarding their mandates:

Unemployment reached 25% during the Great Depression; attained levels
above 10% in 1982; and will breach 10% in the next year. Grade:
Failure

Based on the chart above and the CPI data since the Federal Reserve's
inception, the dollar has lost 95% of its purchasing power. Grade:
Failure

Based on the chart below interest rates have been anything but moderate
since the inception of the Federal Reserve. They have consistently caused
booms and busts by setting rates too low or too high. Grade: Failure

The Federal Reserve was supposed to supervise the activities of banks.
Instead, under Alan Greenspan, they stepped aside and let banks take
preposterous risks while giving an unspoken assurance that the Fed would clean
up any messes that they caused. This total dereliction of duty gross
negligence has led the greatest financial collapse in history. Grade:
Failure

Voices of Reason

The Chairman of the House banking & Currency Committee Louis T. McFadden
fought a lonely battle against the Federal Reserve in the early 1930s. He was
swept out of office when his opponent in the next election received thousands of
dollars in campaign contributions.

"Mr. Chairman, we have in this Country one of
the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal
Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks, hereinafter called the Fed. The Fed
has cheated the Government of these United States and the people of the United
States out of enough money to pay the Nation's debt. The depredations and
iniquities of the Fed have cost enough money to pay the National debt several
times over. This evil institution has impoverished and ruined the people of
these United States , has bankrupted itself, and has practically bankrupted our
Government. It has done this through the defects of the law under which it
operates, through the maladministration of that law by the Fed and through the
corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it.”
-Louis T. McFadden – Representative from PA 1934

Mr. McFadden has a soul mate in Representative Ron Paul from Texas . Mr. Paul
has been on a one man mission to abolish the Federal Reserve for over a decade.
He seems to be the only person in Congress with the courage, fortitude and
intellect to understand the damage that has been caused by the Federal Reserve
and call for its abolition. The entrenched political class, despise Mr. Paul
because his call to abolish the Federal Reserve would destroy their ill begotten
wealth and power.

Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, middle and
working-class Americans have been victimized by a boom-and-bust monetary policy.
In addition, most Americans have suffered a steadily eroding purchasing power
because of the Federal Reserve's inflationary policies. This represents a real,
if hidden, tax imposed on the American people.

From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the
seventies, to the burst of the dotcom bubble last year, every economic downturn
suffered by the country over the last 80 years can be traced to Federal Reserve
policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with
easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial "boom"
followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts. In
conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand up for working Americans
by putting an end to the manipulation of the money supply which erodes
Americans' standard of living, enlarges big government, and enriches
well-connected elites, by cosponsoring my legislation to abolish the Federal
Reserve. - Ron Paul – Sept 10, 2002

Representative Paul sized up his colleagues in Congress and the Federal
Reserve perfectly in 2006 when they were oblivious to the impending disaster
that was about to befall the nation. He was belittled by the mainstream press
and fellow Congressmen.

The coming dollar crisis is not likely to be “fixed” by
politicians who are unwilling to make hard choices, admit mistakes, and spend
less money. Demographic trends will place even greater demands on Congress to
maintain benefits for millions of older Americans who are dependent on the
federal government.

Faced with uncomfortable financial realities, Congress will
seek to avoid the day of reckoning by the most expedient means available – and
the Federal Reserve undoubtedly will accommodate Washington by printing more
dollars to pay the bills. The Fed is the enabler for the spending addicts in
Congress, who would rather spend new fiat money than face the political
consequences of raising taxes or borrowing more abroad.

The irony is that many of the Fed's biggest
cheerleaders are the same supposed capitalists who denounced centralized
economic planning when practiced by the former Soviet Union . Large banks and
Wall Street firms love the Fed's easy money policy, because they profit at the
front end from the resulting loan boom and artificially high equity prices. It's
the little guy who loses when the inflated dollars finally trickle down to him
and erode his buying power. Someday Americans will understand that Federal
Reserve bankers have no magic ability – and certainly no legal or moral right –
to decide how much money should exist and what the cost of borrowing money
should be. - Ron Paul – July 11,
2006

Before he became a tool of the political ruling elite and the bankers who
truly control the country, Alan Greenspan actually understood and supported a
currency backed by gold which couldn't be manipulated by corrupt politicians.
The confiscation of middle class wealth through the insidious use of inflation
has proceeded unchecked for 96 years.

In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way
to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store
of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal,
as was done in the case of gold. If everyone decided, for example, to convert
all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter
declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their
purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a
claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be
no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves. This is the shabby secret
of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a
scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious
process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one
has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold
standard. - Alan Greenspan – 1966

I'm Mad as Hell & I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore

Howard Beale, the news anchor in the movie Network, could
have spoken the same lines today that he was speaking in 1976. He describes our
current financial crisis to a tee.

I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad.
It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The
dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under
the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere
who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.

I want you to get mad!

I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you
to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write.
I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians
and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your
chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick
your head out and yell,

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this
anymore!!"

Anyone who is not mad as hell at this point is not paying attention. Your tax
and spend corrupted politician leaders and your banker controlled Federal
Reserve have borrowed and spent your tax dollars, your children's tax dollars,
and their children's tax dollars desperately attempting to prop up this bankrupt
system. The unleashing of a never ending tsunami of printed dollars by the
Federal Reserve makes every dollar worth less. They have systematically created
inflation that has slowly but surely reduced your standard of living.
Politicians in the pocket of lobbyists, corporate interests, and bankers have
used their power to tax in order to spend trillions on worthless projects in
their districts to insure re-election. The combination of taxing and printing
has led to a National Debt of $11 trillion.

Bankers love debt. The more debt, the more interest they collect. Issuing
credit cards and collecting 21% interest and billions in late fees seemed like a
can't miss proposition. It was until people couldn't pay the debt back. Now the
unwinding of the greatest debt bubble in history has created a 2 nd Great
Depression. Instead of learning from the past, the Federal Reserve has chosen to
do exactly what led to the crisis. They have lowered rates to 0% and have
printed money at prodigious rates. The Fed has doubled their balance sheet in
the last 12 months.

They have loaned billions to the bankrupt banks that inhabit our financial
system while accepting worthless pieces of paper as collateral. They have hailed
back to Jekyll Island and the cloak of secrecy. They will not reveal to the
public the banks they have loaned money to or the collateral that backs up those
loans. The arrogance of Ben Bernanke proves that the Federal Reserve answers to
bankers, and not to the American public. The books and records of the Federal
Reserve are not open to scrutiny by the General Accounting Office. Ron Paul has
introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act which would open their books to
the public. No organization with as much power as the Federal Reserve should be
permitted to operate in the shadows.

A recent article by David Galand from Casey Research pointed out the
insidious methods by which the government extracts our money for their self
serving schemes:

After digesting this disgusting list, do you feel under taxed?

Depression, Collapse & Revival

The future is cloudy but the direction is clear. Government will spend
trillions of dollars. Congress will increase taxes on the rich and secretly
raise taxes on the masses by calling them cap and trade fees. The Federal
Reserve will pull out all stops to create inflation. When you owe the rest of
the world $11 trillion, inflation makes the debt less burdensome. The dollar
will decline versus gold. With the enormous amount of currency creation and
spending by the government, the economy will eventually pull out of this
depression. The acceleration will take the Federal Reserve by surprise. They
will be hesitant to raise interest rates. The inflation genie will get out of
the bottle and will not go back. The hyperinflation that takes hold will lead to
social unrest, rioting, and a drastic reduction in the American standard of
living.

There is no solution that will not be painful to everyone in the United
States . The only solution that would put America back on a path of sustainable
prosperity would be a gold/precious metals backed currency that would force
government and its citizens to live within its means. Congress would need to
vote for something that would take away its power. With our current political
system, this is impossible. Money is power. This leads to only one conclusion.
The existing Ponzi scheme will have to collapse before we can adopt a rational
financial system for America . It may take decades, or it may happen in 2010. No
one knows. If the country can be convinced to follow the wisdom of Ron Paul, we
still have a chance to avoid this fate.

When the Federal government spends more each year
than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes,
print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all
three options are bad for average Americans.

To discuss ways to take back our country from corrupt politicians and
criminal bankers join me at TheBurningPlatform.com .

That F%$*ing Greenspan told me this job was easy

By James Quinn

[email-masked]

James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major
university. James has held financial positions with a retailer, homebuilder and
university in his 22-year career. Those positions included treasurer,
controller, and head of strategic planning. He is married with three boys and is
writing these articles because he cares about their future. He earned a BS in
accounting from Drexel University and an MBA from Villanova University. He is a
certified public accountant and a certified cash manager.

These articles reflect the personal views of James Quinn. They do not
necessarily represent the views of his employer, and are not sponsored or
endorsed by his employer.

© 2009 Copyright James Quinn - All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion
provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment
advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising
methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any
losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

James Quinn
Archive

© 2005-2012 http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/ - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets
Analysis & Forecasting online publication.

Comments

1776 again
11 Mar 09, 01:35

FED desperate to save THEIR system at OUR
Expense

Of course, this whole scenario has been the result of the FED's fear of
losing control, so maybe they re-read G. Edward Griffin's "Creature from
Jekyll Island", (1994), after which they copped his idea, slighty
modified....

Read Griffin's hypothetical prediction of the FED-caused crash, and it
bears a remarkable similarity to the events of September 2008 forward. You
have a much shorter condensed version of explaining the criminal FED;
congratulations !

Now that all 3 parts of our government are under the same control
behind the scenes, elections have become a farce, due to the major
media-controlled environment. ( Madison called that Tyranny. ) We have to
act in our own defense by robbing them of their power. Get after your
elected officials as well as the commie they elected as Socialist
dictator. Maybe it's time for a revolt ! We need a plan.

So far we have been on the streets with our signs in Sarasota,
expressing our disgust, along with other "Tea parties" we are organizing
across the country.

Only a small step.

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