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A Plague On Both Your Houses

Dear A-Letter Reader:

Historically, it used to be that the Republican Party in America was the conservative party. If elected, it promised to govern by the principles of lower taxes, less government and more freedom. In 2001, the GOP finally managed to obtain the political trifecta it had sought for half a century - control of the White House and both the House and Senate in the Congress.

It should have been the beginning of a wonderful new era in America, a fundamental change from the leftist welfare state, big spending, liberty-crushing Democrats.

But what happened was something far different. The sad events under Republican rule bring to mind Lord Acton's old clich, still accurate today, that "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Republicans have now joined the Democrats as big spenders, and the Dems have adopted the old GOP cry of wanting a balanced budget as a means to block more tax cuts. Both parties are deep in the trough of pork barrel projects back home. Neither party seems really to care about the huge budget and trade deficits or the ballooning national debt. Meanwhile, there is the festering issue of the war in Iraq.

US Rep. Ron Paul points out: "wars invite abuses of civil liberties at home, and the vague declaration of war against terrorism is worse than most in this regard. As our liberties here at home are diminished by the Patriot Act and national ID card legislation, we succumb to the temptation of all empires to neglect habeas corpus, employ torture tactics, and use secret imprisonment. These domestic and foreign policy trends reflect a morally bankrupt philosophy, devoid of any concern for liberty and the rule of law."

In deed the stench of corruption floats over Capitol Hill, with a long time California GOP congressman having resigned after admitting taking millions in bribes, and the suspended House Republican Leader pending trial on money laundering charges. Other Republicans (and some Democrats) are implicated in lobbying scandals. But as columnist Tony Snow says: "The Republican Party in Washington is in trouble not because it's overrun by crooks, but because it's packed with cowards -- and has degenerated into a caricature of the party that swept to power 11 years ago promising to take on the federal bureaucracy and liberate the creative genius of American society."

Dick Armey, the former Republican House Majority Leader, writing in The Wall Street Journal , says that voters are turning away from the Republican Party because GOP politicians are acting like big spending leftists. Armey says that the time has come for another 1994 revolution. But this time, conservatives need to wrest power from big government Republicans, not big government Democrats. That should not have to happen -- and will the next crop also be a bunch of sellouts?

It is as if the observation, made in another time, of the late Gov. George Wallace of Alabama, then a third party candidate for president, has come true: "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties anymore." Not even billions or trillions separate the Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee parties.

Much of this can be laid at the door of the self-proclaimed "compassionate conservative" President Bush, who has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation adjusted federal spending since the Great Society of "guns and butter" of Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush is still the biggest spending president in 30 years.

As I have said before, my problem is that, after eight years in the House (1973-81) I know how much worse things have gotten today. Pray for the Republic - not the Republicans (or the Democrats). Indeed, that prayer might be drawn from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , act III, scene i, line 112: "A plague on both your houses."

That's the way it looks from here.

BOB BAUMAN, Editor

 Gold: A Rotten Smell

Bill Bonner observes:   "Not much happened in yesterday's markets. Of course, not much has happened for a long time. This leaves most people thinking that not much will ever happen. The Dow will be over 10,000 forever. The dollar seems stable at 1.18 versus the euro. And why would you ever have to pay more than 6% for a mortgage loan?

But two things happened yesterday that might be significant. First, oil seemed to end its correction with a move back towards $60 a barrel. Second, the price of gold went up again to over $512 per ounce (Feb. contracts). These things are significant because in the happy picture of America's finances and the world economy, they shouldn't be there. It would be like a man with a turban on his head saying Mass at Notre Dame, or a sour smell from a bowl of yogurt. Something is rotten, they tell us.

The accepted view of America's economic situation is that it is enjoying strong growth that - thanks to its dynamic economy and enlightened central bank - is not merely sustainable, but eternal. People expect GDP growth of 2% to 5% annually...with inflation between 2% and 3%, and property prices rising somewhat faster.

Gold points an old, gnarled finger at this pleasant scene and mutters, "It ain't necessarily so." For more see LINK: http://www.lewrockwell.com/bonner/bonner175.html

For more information on how you can take advantage of gold's unprecedented rise, click here: http://www.isecureonline.com/Reports/190SSFDG/E190FC21/

EU Politicians Love Taxes