THE JUBILEE ACT

Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending H.R. 2634
H. R. 2634
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 24, 2008
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
AN ACT
To provide for greater responsibility in lending and expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the international financial institutions by low-income countries, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Many low-income countries have been struggling under the burden of international debts for many years.
(2) Since 1996, when the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) was created, more than 30 nations have seen some form of debt relief totaling approximately $80,000,000,000.
(3) Congress has demonstrated its support for bilateral and multilateral debt relief through the enactment of comprehensive debt relief initiatives for heavily indebted low-income countries in--
(A) title V of H.R. 3425 of the 106th Congress, as enacted into law by section 1000(a)(5) of the Act entitled `An Act making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes', approved November 29, 1999 (Public Law 106-113; 113 Stat. 1501-311) and the amendments made by such title;
(B) title II of H.R. 5526 of the 106th Congress, as enacted into law by section 101(a) of the Act entitled `An Act making appropriations for foreign operations, export financing, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes', approved November 6, 2000 (Public Law 106-429; 114 Stat. 1900A-5); and
(C) title V of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-25; 117 Stat. 747) and the amendment made by such title.
(4) In 2005, the United States and other G-8 nations reached an agreement to provide cancellation of 100 percent of the debts owed by eligible poor nations to Paris Club members, the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank. The Inter-American Development Bank reached an agreement in early 2007 to provide similar treatment.
(5) The 2005 agreement led to the creation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). As of April 2007, 22 nations have seen the majority of their debts to the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank cancelled under the terms of the MDRI. In March 2007, the Inter-American Development Bank announced it would provide full debt cancellation to 5 Latin American countries on MDRI terms.
(6) Resources released by debt relief efforts to date are reaching the poor. Cameroon is using the $29,800,000 of savings it will gain from the MDRI in 2006 for national poverty reduction priorities, including infrastructure, social sector and governance reforms. Uganda is using its $57,900,000 savings in 2006 on improving energy infrastructure to try to ease acute electricity shortages, as well as primary education, malaria control, healthcare and water infrastructure (specifically targeting the poor and under-served villages). Zambia is using its savings of $23,800,000 under the MDRI in 2006 to increase spending on agricultural projects, such as smallholder irrigation and livestock disease control, as well as to eliminate fees for healthcare in rural areas.
(7) While debt cancellation has a record of success, there remains an unfinished agenda on international debt. There are a number of challenges to both the effective reduction of poverty and inequality and the achievement of broader debt cancellation.
(8) 2007 is an important year to address the unfinished agenda on international debt as the global Jubilee debt campaign has declared 2007 a `Sabbath year', 7 years after the historic Jubilee 2000 campaign.
(9) A critical issue which needs to be addressed on debt is the way that non-concessional lenders stand to gain financially from lending to poor countries that have benefited from debt relief without having paid for past debt relief or facing the prospect of paying for the future relief of unsustainable and irresponsible new lending. In these cases, the gains of debt relief for poor debtor countries are at risk of being eroded. This takes the form of new lending to countries that have received debt cancellation from countries including China.
(10) It is also essential that all lenders and borrowers accept co-responsibility and learn from past mistakes--as evidenced by the debt crisis itself--by making more productive investment choices and engaging in more responsible lending and borrowing in the future. In October 2006, Norway became the first creditor to accept co-responsibility for past lending mistakes and cancelled the debt of 5 nations on the grounds that the loans reflected poor development policy.
(11) A growing number of governments and intergovernmental bodies, including the United Kingdom, the European Commission, and Norway, are raising concerns about the harmful impacts of certain economic policy conditionalities. Many impoverished countries that have received debt cancellation under the HIPC and MDRI initiatives have done so at a high social cost, because they have had to implement certain economic policy conditions, including the privatization of essential basic services such as water, and comply with other harmful requirements. Some of these policies have had the effect of limiting fiscal space for productive investment and threatening growth and human development. Several countries currently eligible for debt cancellation under the HIPC or MDRI programs are facing extended delays in receiving cancellation because they are struggling to comply with such requirements from the IMF and World Bank.
(12) There is also an urgent need to look beyond the constraints of current debt relief initiatives to address the need for expanded debt cancellation. The current initiatives allow countries to qualify for relief based on economic criteria rather than human needs. A January 2007 report by the United Nations Human Rights Council found that eligibility for debt cancellation should be expanded to cover all low-income countries.
(13) The Government of the United Kingdom has proposed that qualification for the MDRI be extended to the 67 nations which qualify for assistance exclusively from the International Development Association. To be eligible for cancellation, countries must meet economic criteria pertaining to public financial management, anti-corruption measures, and budget transparency.
(14) Since debt cancellation is an essential component of the United States development assistance strategy and the United States has been able to lead the debt cancellation efforts of the international community by example, the United States should continue to work to improve and expand initiatives in this area.
(15) The United States has been a leader in supporting debt relief efforts to date and should continue to work to improve and expand initiatives in this area.
SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p--262p-8) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`SEC. 1626. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.
`(a) In General- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the other international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)), to negotiate an agreement to accomplish the following:

`(1) Cancellation by each international financial institution of all debts owed to the institution by eligible low-income countries, and, to the extent possible, financing the debt cancellation from the ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the institution, without undermining the financial integrity of the institution.

`(2) Cancellation by the United States of all debts owed to it by eligible low-income countries.

`(3) Ensuring that any waiting period for the enhanced debt cancellation is not excessive.

`(4) Ensuring that the provision of debt cancellation to eligible low-income countries is not followed by a reduction in the provision of any other development assistance to the countries by international financial institutions and bilateral creditors, or to other countries eligible for assistance from the International Development Association.

`(5) Encouraging the government of each eligible low-income country to allocate at least 20 percent of its national budget towards poverty-alleviation programs such as the provision of basic health care services, education services, and clean water services to all individuals in the country.

This subsection shall not be interpreted to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to accomplish any of the foregoing without express congressional authorization to do so.

`(b) Establishment of Framework for Creditor Transparency- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined), to ensure that each of the institutions--

`(1) continues to make efforts to promote greater transparency regarding the activities of the institution, including credit, grant, guarantee, and technical assistance operations, following a policy of maximum disclosure; and

`(2) supports continued efforts to allow informed participation and input by affected communities, including translation of information on proposed projects, provision of information (including draft documents) through information technology application, oral briefings, and outreach to and dialogue with community organizations and institutions in affected areas.

`(c) Establishment of Framework for Responsible Lending- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts to--

`(1) develop and promote policies to ensure all creditors, with no distinction, will contribute to preserving the gains of debt relief for low-income debtor countries;

`(2) provide that the external financing needs of low-income countries are met primarily through grant financing rather than new lending;

`(3) seek the international adoption of a binding legal framework on new lending that--

`(A) guarantees that no creditor can take or expect to take financial advantage of acquired or newly awarded debt relief through the terms and rates of such lending to beneficiary countries;

`(B) is binding on all creditors, whether multilateral, bilateral or private;

`(C) foresees, as a sanction for creditors who violate it, an equitable share in the burden of the losses from any future debt relief needed by the sovereign debtor to whom lending was irresponsibly provided;

`(D) provides for decisions on irresponsible lending to be made by an entity independent from the creditors; and

`(E) enables fair opportunities for the people of the affected country to be heard; and

`(4) support the development of responsible financing standards where creditors and aid/loan recipients alike adhere to standards to assure transparency and accountability to citizens, human rights, and the avoidance of new odious debt, while encouraging the development of renewable energy and helping countries to transition away from dependence on oil.
`(d) GAO Audit of Debt Portfolios of Countries With Questionable Loans-
`(1) IN GENERAL- The Comptroller General of the United States shall undertake an audit of the debt portfolios of previous governments in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, where there is significant evidence that odious, onerous, or illegal loans were made to the government. Each such audit shall--

`(A) consider debt owed to the World Bank, the IMF, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined), export credit debts owed to governments, and debts owed to commercial creditors, and assess whether or not past investments produced the intended results;

`(B) investigate the process by which the loans were contracted, how the funds were used, and determine whether United States or international laws were violated in the contraction of these loans, and whether any of the loans were odious or onerous; and

`(C) be planned and executed in a transparent and consultative manner, engaging congressional bodies and civil society groups in the countries.

`(2) REPORT- Within 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that contains the results of the audits undertaken under paragraph (1).

`(e) Availability on Treasury Department Website of Remarks of United States Executive Directors at Meetings of International Financial Institutions' Boards of Directors- The Secretary of the Treasury shall make available on the website of the Department of the Treasury the full record of the remarks of the United States Executive Director at meetings of the boards of directors of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined), about cancellation or reduction of debts owed to the institution involved, with redaction by the Secretary of the Treasury of material deemed too sensitive for public distribution, but showing the topic, amount of material redacted, and reason for the redaction.

`(f) Report From the Comptroller General- Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the availability of the ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the IMF, the World Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined) for canceling the debt of eligible low-income countries.

`(g) Annual Reports From the President- Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year. The report shall include a list of the countries that have received debt cancellation, a list of the countries whose request for debt cancellation has been denied and the reasons therefor, and a list of the countries whose requests for debt cancellation are under consideration.

`(h) Eligible Low-Income Country Defined- In this section, the term `eligible low-income country' means a country--
`(1) that is eligible for financing from the International Development Association but not from the World Bank, and does not qualify for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative (as defined in section 1625(e)(3)) and under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative;
`(2) that has transparent and effective budget execution and public financial management systems which ensure that the savings from debt relief are spent on reducing poverty;
`(3) the government of which does not have an excessive level of military expenditures;
`(4) the government of which has not provided support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)), or section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a));
`(5) the government of which is cooperating with the United States on international narcotics control matters;
`(6) the government of which (including its military or other security forces) does not engage in a pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights (as defined in section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (Public Law 87-195));
`(7) the government of which has not been identified in the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the Department of State as not fully complying with minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and not making significant efforts to do so;
`(8) the government of which has been determined by the President to be cooperating with United States efforts to stop illegal immigration to the United States;
`(9) the government of which has been determined by the President to be committed to free and fair elections;
`(10) the government of which was chosen by and permits free and fair elections; and
`(11) the government of which does not have business interests with Iran.'.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONALITY OF DEBT RELIEF FOR ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.
Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p--262p-8) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
`SEC. 1627. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONALITY OF DEBT RELIEF FOR ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.
`(a) In General- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the other international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)), to ensure that debt cancellation is provided to eligible low-income countries (as defined in section 1626(h)) subject to all and only the following conditions: That the government of such a country--
`(1) take steps so that the financial benefits of debt relief are applied to programs to combat poverty (in particular through concrete measures to improve economic infrastructure, basic services in education, nutrition, and health, particularly treatment and prevention of the leading causes of mortality) and to redress environmental degradation;
`(2) make policy decisions through transparent and participatory processes;
`(3) adopt an integrated development strategy to support poverty reduction through economic growth, that includes monitorable poverty reduction goals;
`(4) implement transparent policy making and budget procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption measures;
`(5) broaden public participation and popular understanding of the principles and goals of poverty reduction, particularly through economic growth, and good governance;
`(6) promote the participation of citizens and nongovernmental organizations in the economic policy choices of the government; and
`(7) produce an annual report disclosing how the savings from debt cancellation were used, and make the report publicly available and easily accessible to all interested parties, including civil society groups and the media.
`(b) Annual Reports to the Congress- Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year.'.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that to further the goals of debt reduction for low-income countries, in addition to the efforts described in this Act, the United States should pay off outstanding arrearages of $595,800,000 to the International Development Association and regional development banks, and become current on all debt reduction efforts, including those carried out by the International Development Association and under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
(a) Finding- The Congress finds that Haiti is scheduled to send $48,700,000 in debt payments to multilateral financial institutions in 2008.
(b) Sense of the Congress- It is the sense of the Congress that, due to the current humanitarian and political instability in Haiti, including food shortages and political turmoil, the Secretary of the Treasury should use his influence to expedite the complete and immediate cancellation of Haiti's debts to all international financial institutions, or if such debt cancellation cannot be provided, to urge the institutions to immediately suspend the requirement that Haiti make further debt service payments on debts owed to the institutions.
Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 2008.
Attest:
110th CONGRESS

2d Session
H. R. 2634
AN ACT
To provide for greater responsibility in lending and expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the international financial institutions by low-income countries, and for other purposes LORRAINE C. MILLER,
posted by Marilyn @ 8:26 PM

AMERICAN SHEEPLE and THE CONSENSUAL CONSPIRACY SYNDROME

http://www.newswithviews.com/Williams/carole2.htm

Carole "CJ" Williams

NewsWithViews.com

Before sitting down to thump away on the old keyboard, I reflected on many facts learned that lend credence to the hornet’s nest I uncovered a few years ago. What I stumbled upon then was preposterous, too outrageous to be true, but the facts keep hitting me right between the eyes, and the sad truth is that there really is a United Nations’ Agenda 21, a nasty old plan for the 21st century that will remake us into cloned, mindless worker have-nots. There really is a Wildlands Project to turn our country into a nation of sniveling and beggarly, Mother Nature worshipping Sheeple, apathetically willing to bow to the dictates of elite Fascists running the New World Order.

As messages of concern and informational enlightenment come into my inbox daily from a multitude of watchdog researchers, property and constitutional rights groups, outdoor sports aficionados, and individuals who give a damn about our future, I’m continuously reminded that America, as we know it, will soon become a thing of the past. There’s far too much documentation from too many sources for all these people to be so wrong.

The Wildlands Project (TWP) is actually a group of fanatic eco-sociopaths who are hell-bent on restoring our country to pre-Columbus times, and by this is meant restoration of both public and private property, regardless of what the majority of people may want for themselves. Their mission, which is rapidly coming to fruition, is to re-wild a vast percent of American land and eventually relocate the “humanely” reduced human population to highly regulated and minuscule “human use” areas near our states’ most metropolitan cities.

Like the multitudinous land trusts and conservancies that help government agencies get their glommers on land, the Wildlands Project is interconnected with countless environmental groups through partnership webs, many a result of their collective allegiance to the UN’s International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Because of these entangled webs, it’s often difficult to specifically link TWP to the various “restoration” projects. But, be assured, the Wildlands Project bunch is most definitely exerting their will and considerable weight on Mr. and Mrs. Joe Citizen and all their children who are now being environmentally brainwashed in our public schools.

In fact, a Wildlands Project agenda definitely exists for restoring the Great Lakes Basin through a bi-national program administered by organizations in the U. S. and Canada. And, while you won’t find too much overt evidence of TWP at the local level in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or in Newmarket, New Hampshire, this eco-organization has assumed a guiding “umbrella” role, along with the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS), to bring their agenda to fruition.

Under this cozy umbrella, cooperating regional-scale organizations, as well as government and tribal agencies, are busily carrying out the Wildlands Project’s re-wilding and bio-reserve building in the UP and elsewhere throughout the multi-state Great Lakes Basin, and all the way out the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean. At completion, there’ll be no Canadian border, and the northern tier of states and Canada will have become one huge bio-reserve.

According to information posted online through the Great Lakes United organization, there are eight major “landscape conservation” initiatives being attended to in the Great Lakes and Niagara Escarpment area. These include the Algonquin to Adirondacks (ON, NY), Bog to Bog (ON), Carolinian Canada (ON), Adirondacks and Northern Appalachians Wildlands Project (ON, QC, NY, VT, NH, ME, NB, NS), Heart of the Continent (MB, ON, MI, MN, WI), Niagara Escarpment (ON), NOAH (the Niagara escarpment, Oak ridges moraine, and Algonquin to Adirondacks Heritage project), and The Land Between (ON).

An older map found on a CPAWS Website shows that all but a tiny fringe of the southern Upper Peninsula boundary is included in the Heart of the Continent. However, bio-reserve boundaries are never stagnant, but, instead, fester outward from the core Biosphere area through public acceptance of more and more stringent land use control, generally garnered by “re-educating” people to buy into the ecosystem management globaloney so they’ll remove their human footprint without further ado.

The “landscape conservation” initiatives are being carried out by networking environmental groups, land trusts, agencies, and individuals working at a scale of a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of square miles. All work simultaneously on both public and private land sub-initiatives, attracting unsuspecting citizens into their web of deceit by promises of traditional land use forever. But, after they’ve sucked all the remaining fight out of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Citizen a few years from now, they’ll pull the strings tightly together and draw all private and public land and water resources into one humungous bio-reserve package, sans all but their “researchers”, “trainers and trainees”, and a few Native American guinea pigs who can perhaps show researchers how to make medicine from nature’s pharmacy, as tribal members freeze to death in the dark on their reservations.

The Wildlanders are targeting focused land acquisitions, particularly along any waterfront, be it a big river, swamp, or itty-bitty creek, and they’re getting a great deal of financial help through grants from government agencies, partnering environmental groups, and philanthropic moneybag donors. They also get help from some United States congressmen who commit themselves to finding additional funding for land acquisitions, such as the U. P. Big Deal, which is nothing more than a huge land grab scam by a bunch of Agenda 21 eco-con artists.

The sad part of all this is knowing that so few Americans realize how they’re being victimized every day of what remains of their lives as freedom-treasuring citizens, and also that so many do realize the terrible truth, but have no desire to do anything about it other than whine in their whiskey at the local watering hole.

Way back in 1954, Indiana Republican Senator William Jenner said, “Today the path to total dictatorship in the United States can be laid by strictly legal means, unseen and unheard by the Congress, the President, or the people…outwardly we have a Constitutional government. We have operating within our government and political system, another body representing another form of government, a bureaucratic elite, which believes our Constitution is outmoded and is sure that it is the winning side…. All the strange developments in the foreign policy agreements may be traced to this group who are going to make us over to suit their pleasure… This political action group has its own local political support organizations, its own pressure groups, its own vested interests, its foothold within our government, and its own propaganda apparatus.”

The bureaucratic elite, whom Jenner spoke of, was comprised of those people living in America as Americans, but whose “act local, think global” sympathy lay with an adherence to Marx, Lenin, and Stalin’s goal of world conquest and the replacement of Christianity by communistic atheism.

Jenner wasn’t alone is his abhorrence of these traitors, and one of several men who were also aware of this duplicity was John F. Kennedy, then a young Massachusetts senator who had already spent from 1947 to 1953 in the House of Representatives. Kennedy went on to serve our country in the Senate until he was elected as our 35th President in 1961, a term cut short by murderously plotting madmen in 1963.

Though we’ve not seen it since, nor likely will ever see it again, Congressman Kennedy, who usually backed bills sponsored by his party, also often showed his independence by casting his vote with the Republicans against measures sponsored by the Truman administration. He joined, too, with Republicans in criticizing that administration’s failure to throw its support behind Chiang Kai-shek’s National government, which lost the battle against Communist forces led by Mao Tse-tung, who then victoriously set up the People’s Republic of China.

Kennedy also took no guff from the Soviet Union, but all that changed when Nixon took office in ‘69 and made overtures to both Russia and China that made our country appear tolerant of Communism and dictatorships. Since Nixon’s less than scrupulous reign, all but Reagan have crawled between the sheets with the U. N. and its Commie/Socialist/Fascist comrades. And that, my friends, has given the green light to Fascist infil-traitors still immersed in our nation’s political arenas and bureaucratic agencies a full fifty-one years after Jenner spoke out.

Perhaps Senator Joe McCarthy, whom both Jenner and Kennedy supported, wasn’t entirely wrong in the ‘50s, and, in hindsight, we might have been much better off now had he refined his tactics to more effectively rid our government and its bureaucracies of commie sympathizers a long time ago.

America’s form of government is a Republic, not a Democracy. In a Citizenship Republic, government officials derive their power from the people through an election process by the people. Those elected must protect the rights of the people and collectively, as a government, conduct their business according to law. In a Republic, the People are the masters, and government is subordinate. Our Republic was formed on the basis of Christianity to withstand the winds of time, not Pantheism, which is founded in the worship of fickle Mother Nature. Our rights are bound between the pages of the Constitution of the United States of America, which is the Law of the People and enables us to control our government. Without it, we are naked and vulnerable.

All who are elected to serve us recite an oath of office, which commits them to swearing an allegiance to the Constitution, as is proven in this oath to be sworn by members of the legislative branch of Congress: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

A Democracy is a government of the masses where authority is derived through a mass meeting or “direct” expression process. It results in “mob” rule and a communistic negation of property rights. In a Democracy, people are ruled by laws derived of passion, prejudice, and impulse without restraint or regard to consequences. Even in a Representative Democracy, mob rule can take over when citizens allow themselves to be socially engineered into adopting a Sheeple mentality, particularly when inherent constitutional rights and property rights are being usurped or rewritten.

Under Socialism and Communism, there is severe, but not absolute interference in economics. These sorts of government, operating under the One Party rule, engage in centralized planning and all people are lumped into one class, which is then governed by those in power. Examples include the former Soviet Union and some believe that China, mired in a Marxist/Dictatorship, is heading at a snail’s pace in this direction as a “developing” nation.

Under Fascism, a specific segment of the populace is separated and denied equality based on superficial qualities or belief systems. It’s a two-class system: the elitists separated from all others who don’t meet the superb quality criteria. Fascism promotes legal segregation in housing, as well as in national resource allocation and employment. It’s a system where the most desired humans who earn favors by kissing fascist keisters are finely rewarded, while the dregs of society make do with barely sustainable crumbs. It’s entirely possible for a nation to be both a Republic and a Fascist state simultaneously.

In the 20th Century, many Fascist countries started out as Republics, but through the use of fear, those societies gave up their rights under the guise of security, even though they knew this was wrong. As a result, the Republics morphed into Fascist states because people were loath to do anything about the wrongness, making them part of a consensual conspiracy that can best be summed up in the words of my former Latin teacher, “Silence is the voice of consent!”

OLDDOGS COMMENTS

With the exception of my wonderful wife, (Jean) there are only two other women in my 72 years who have made significant contributions to my world view, ( Marilyn Barnewall) and (Carole Williams, now deceased), both of which have done so by their exceptional expertise in journalism at News With Views, and other sources of the written word. Their archives of world class journalism may be found here http://www.newswithviews.com/Barnewall/marilynA.htm and here http://www.newswithviews.com/Williams/caroleA.htm Although I did not have the opportunity to become personally acquainted with Carole, I did have the honor of being accepted as a friend of Marilyn, which is without doubt, the most important element contributing to my intellectual development. Before we met on the net there was only one way to view things in my mind, (MINE)! It took her only one letter to change that, and she accomplished it without destroying my self esteem. If and when I encounter political atrocities that my mind cannot decipher, she has the ability to make them plain as day, but wait! There are other journalist who are world class researchers, and they can be found here, http://www.newswithviews.com/writers.htm . So, if your mind is reeling with confusion over the all too apparent destruction of America, you cannot do better to find a source of truthful information. Carloe, Marilyn, and a host of other writers at News with views have changed my life, and they can change yours as well. All you need is a pinch of interest in your future, and you will find nourishing mind food among these great journalists. Please support News with Views, and don’t let a day go by without reading the archives of Dr. Edwin Vieira , specifically this one, The Sword and Sovereignty. http://www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin254.htm Here you will find the only way back from tyranny in America.

Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending H.R. 2634

H. R. 2634

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 24, 2008

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

---

AN ACT

To provide for greater responsibility in lending and expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the international financial institutions by low-income countries, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:
(1) Many low-income countries have been struggling under the burden of international debts for many years.
(2) Since 1996, when the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) was created more than 30 nations have seen some form of debt relief totaling approximately $80,000,000,000.
(3) Congress has demonstrated its support for bilateral and multilateral debt relief through the enactment of comprehensive debt relief initiatives for heavily indebted low-income countries in--
(A) title V of H.R. 3425 of the 106th Congress, as enacted into law by section 1000(a)(5) of the Act entitled `An Act making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes', approved November 29, 1999 (Public Law 106-113; 113 Stat. 1501-311) and the amendments made by such title;
(B) title II of H.R. 5526 of the 106th Congress, as enacted into law by section 101(a) of the Act entitled `An Act making appropriations for foreign operations, export financing, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes', approved November 6, 2000 (Public Law 106-429; 114 Stat. 1900A-5); and
(C) title V of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-25; 117 Stat. 747) and the amendment made by such title.
(4) In 2005, the United States and other G-8 nations reached an agreement to provide cancellation of 100 percent of the debts owed by eligible poor nations to Paris Club members, the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank. The Inter-American Development Bank reached an agreement in early 2007 to provide similar treatment.
(5) The 2005 agreement led to the creation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). As of April 2007, 22 nations have seen the majority of their debts to the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank cancelled under the terms of the MDRI. In March 2007, the Inter-American Development Bank announced it would provide full debt cancellation to 5 Latin American countries on MDRI terms.
(6) Resources released by debt relief efforts to date are reaching the poor. Cameroon is using the $29,800,000 of savings it will gain from the MDRI in 2006 for national poverty reduction priorities, including infrastructure, social sector and governance reforms. Uganda is using its $57,900,000 savings in 2006 on improving energy infrastructure to try to ease acute electricity shortages, as well as primary education, malaria control, healthcare and water infrastructure (specifically targeting the poor and under-served villages). Zambia is using its savings of $23,800,000 under the MDRI in 2006 to increase spending on agricultural projects, such as smallholder irrigation and livestock disease control, as well as to eliminate fees for healthcare in rural areas.
(7) While debt cancellation has a record of success, there remains an unfinished agenda on international debt. There are a number of challenges to both the effective reduction of poverty and inequality and the achievement of broader debt cancellation.
(8) 2007 is an important year to address the unfinished agenda on international debt as the global Jubilee debt campaign has declared 2007 a `Sabbath year', 7 years after the historic Jubilee 2000 campaign.
(9) A critical issue which needs to be addressed on debt is the way that non-concessional lenders stand to gain financially from lending to poor countries that have benefited from debt relief without having paid for past debt relief or facing the prospect of paying for the future relief of unsustainable and irresponsible new lending. In these cases, the gains of debt relief for poor debtor countries are at risk of being eroded. This takes the form of new lending to countries that have received debt cancellation from countries including China.
(10) It is also essential that all lenders and borrowers accept co-responsibility and learn from past mistakes--as evidenced by the debt crisis itself--by making more productive investment choices and engaging in more responsible lending and borrowing in the future. In October 2006, Norway became the first creditor to accept co-responsibility for past lending mistakes and cancelled the debt of 5 nations on the grounds that the loans reflected poor development policy.
(11) A growing number of governments and intergovernmental bodies, including the United Kingdom, the European Commission, and Norway, are raising concerns about the harmful impacts of certain economic policy conditionalities. Many impoverished countries that have received debt cancellation under the HIPC and MDRI initiatives have done so at a high social cost, because they have had to implement certain economic policy conditions, including the privatization of essential basic services such as water, and comply with other harmful requirements. Some of these policies have had the effect of limiting fiscal space for productive investment and threatening growth and human development. Several countries currently eligible for debt cancellation under the HIPC or MDRI programs are facing extended delays in receiving cancellation because they are struggling to comply with such requirements from the IMF and World Bank.
(12) There is also an urgent need to look beyond the constraints of current debt relief initiatives to address the need for expanded debt cancellation. The current initiatives allow countries to qualify for relief based on economic criteria rather than human needs. A January 2007 report by the United Nations Human Rights Council found that eligibility for debt cancellation should be expanded to cover all low-income countries.
(13) The Government of the United Kingdom has proposed that qualification for the MDRI be extended to the 67 nations which qualify for assistance exclusively from the International Development Association. To be eligible for cancellation, countries must meet economic criteria pertaining to public financial management, anti-corruption measures, and budget transparency.
(14) Since debt cancellation is an essential component of the United States development assistance strategy and the United States has been able to lead the debt cancellation efforts of the international community by example, the United States should continue to work to improve and expand initiatives in this area.
(15) The United States has been a leader in supporting debt relief efforts to date and should continue to work to improve and expand initiatives in this area.

SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.

Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p--262p-8) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`SEC. 1626. CANCELLATION OF DEBT OWED BY ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.

`(a) In General- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the other international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)), to negotiate an agreement to accomplish the following:

`(1) Cancellation by each international financial institution of all debts owed to the institution by eligible low-income countries, and, to the extent possible, financing the debt cancellation from the ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the institution, without undermining the financial integrity of the institution.

`(2) Cancellation by the United States of all debts owed to it by eligible low-income countries.

`(3) Ensuring that any waiting period for the enhanced debt cancellation is not excessive.

`(4) Ensuring that the provision of debt cancellation to eligible low-income countries is not followed by a reduction in the provision of any other development assistance to the countries by international financial institutions and bilateral creditors, or to other countries eligible for assistance from the International Development Association.

`(5) Encouraging the government of each eligible low-income country to allocate at least 20 percent of its national budget towards poverty-alleviation programs such as the provision of basic health care services, education services, and clean water services to all individuals in the country.

This subsection shall not be interpreted to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to accomplish any of the foregoing without express congressional authorization to do so.

`(b) Establishment of Framework for Creditor Transparency- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined), to ensure that each of the institutions--

`(1) continues to make efforts to promote greater transparency regarding the activities of the institution, including credit, grant, guarantee, and technical assistance operations, following a policy of maximum disclosure; and

`(2) supports continued efforts to allow informed participation and input by affected communities, including translation of information on proposed projects, provision of information (including draft documents) through information technology application, oral briefings, and outreach to and dialogue with community organizations and institutions in affected areas.

`(c) Establishment of Framework for Responsible Lending- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts to--

`(1) develop and promote policies to ensure all creditors, with no distinction, will contribute to preserving the gains of debt relief for low-income debtor countries;

`(2) provide that the external financing needs of low-income countries are met primarily through grant financing rather than new lending;

`(3) seek the international adoption of a binding legal framework on new lending that--

`(A) guarantees that no creditor can take or expect to take financial advantage of acquired or newly awarded debt relief through the terms and rates of such lending to beneficiary countries;

`(B) is binding on all creditors, whether multilateral, bilateral or private;

`(C) foresees, as a sanction for creditors who violate it, an equitable share in the burden of the losses from any future debt relief needed by the sovereign debtor to whom lending was irresponsibly provided;

`(D) provides for decisions on irresponsible lending to be made by an entity independent from the creditors; and

`(E) enables fair opportunities for the people of the affected country to be heard; and

`(4) support the development of responsible financing standards where creditors and aid/loan recipients alike adhere to standards to assure transparency and accountability to citizens, human rights, and the avoidance of new odious debt, while encouraging the development of renewable energy and helping countries to transition away from dependence on oil.

                                   `(d) GAO Audit of Debt Portfolios of Countries With Questionable Loans-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The Comptroller General of the United States shall undertake an audit of the debt portfolios of previous governments in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, where there is significant evidence that odious, onerous, or illegal loans were made to the government. Each such audit shall--

`(A) consider debt owed to the World Bank, the IMF, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined), export credit debts owed to governments, and debts owed to commercial creditors, and assess whether or not past investments produced the intended results;

`(B) investigate the process by which the loans were contracted, how the funds were used, and determine whether United States or international laws were violated in the contraction of these loans, and whether any of the loans were odious or onerous; and

`(C) be planned and executed in a transparent and consultative manner, engaging congressional bodies and civil society groups in the countries.

`(2) REPORT- Within 2 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that contains the results of the audits undertaken under paragraph (1).

`(e) Availability on Treasury Department Website of Remarks of United States Executive Directors at Meetings of International Financial Institutions' Boards of Directors- The Secretary of the Treasury shall make available on the website of the Department of the Treasury the full record of the remarks of the United States Executive Director at meetings of the boards of directors of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined), about cancellation or reduction of debts owed to the institution involved, with redaction by the Secretary of the Treasury of material deemed too sensitive for public distribution, but showing the topic, amount of material redacted, and reason for the redaction.

`(f) Report From the Comptroller General- Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the availability of the ongoing operations, procedures, and accounts of the IMF, the World Bank, and the other international financial institutions (as so defined) for canceling the debt of eligible low-income countries.

`(g) Annual Reports From the President- Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year. The report shall include a list of the countries that have received debt cancellation, a list of the countries whose request for debt cancellation has been denied and the reasons therefor, and a list of the countries whose requests for debt cancellation are under consideration.

`(h) Eligible Low-Income Country Defined- In this section, the term `eligible low-income country' means a country--
`(1) that is eligible for financing from the International Development Association but not from the World Bank, and does not qualify for debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative (as defined in section 1625(e)(3)) and under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative;
`(2) that has transparent and effective budget execution and public financial management systems which ensure that the savings from debt relief are spent on reducing poverty;
`(3) the government of which does not have an excessive level of military expenditures;
`(4) the government of which has not provided support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)), or section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a));
`(5) the government of which is cooperating with the United States on international narcotics control matters;
`(6) the government of which (including its military or other security forces) does not engage in a pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights (as defined in section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (Public Law 87-195));
`(7) the government of which has not been identified in the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the Department of State as not fully complying with minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and not making significant efforts to do so;
`(8) the government of which has been determined by the President to be cooperating with United States efforts to stop illegal immigration to the United States;
`(9) the government of which has been determined by the President to be committed to free and fair elections;
`(10) the government of which was chosen by and permits free and fair elections; and
`(11) the government of which does not have business interests with Iran.'.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONALITY OF DEBT RELIEF FOR ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.

Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262p--262p-8) is further amended by adding at the end the following:

`SEC. 1627. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONALITY OF DEBT RELIEF FOR ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES.

`(a) In General- The Secretary of the Treasury shall commence immediate efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the other international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)), to ensure that debt cancellation is provided to eligible low-income countries (as defined in section 1626(h)) subject to all and only the following conditions: That the government of such a country--
`(1) take steps so that the financial benefits of debt relief are applied to programs to combat poverty (in particular through concrete measures to improve economic infrastructure, basic services in education, nutrition, and health, particularly treatment and prevention of the leading causes of mortality) and to redress environmental degradation;
`(2) make policy decisions through transparent and participatory processes;
`(3) adopt an integrated development strategy to support poverty reduction through economic growth, that includes monitorable poverty reduction goals;
`(4) implement transparent policy making and budget procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption measures;
`(5) broaden public participation and popular understanding of the principles and goals of poverty reduction, particularly through economic growth, and good governance;
`(6) promote the participation of citizens and nongovernmental organizations in the economic policy choices of the government; and
`(7) produce an annual report disclosing how the savings from debt cancellation were used, and make the report publicly available and easily accessible to all interested parties, including civil society groups and the media.
`(b) Annual Reports to the Congress- Not later than December 31 of each year, the President shall submit to the Committees on Financial Services and on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a report, which shall be made available to the public, on the activities undertaken under this section, and other progress made in accomplishing the purposes of this section, for the prior fiscal year.'.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

It is the sense of the Congress that to further the goals of debt reduction for low-income countries, in addition to the efforts described in this Act, the United States should pay off outstanding arrearages of $595,800,000 to the International Development Association and regional development banks, and become current on all debt reduction efforts, including those carried out by the International Development Association and under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

(a) Finding- The Congress finds that Haiti is scheduled to send $48,700,000 in debt payments to multilateral financial institutions in 2008.
(b) Sense of the Congress- It is the sense of the Congress that, due to the current humanitarian and political instability in Haiti, including food shortages and political turmoil, the Secretary of the Treasury should use his influence to expedite the complete and immediate cancellation of Haiti's debts to all international financial institutions, or if such debt cancellation cannot be provided, to urge the institutions to immediately suspend the requirement that Haiti make further debt service payments on debts owed to the institutions.

Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 2008.

Attest:

110th CONGRESS
2d SessionH. R. 2634AN ACTTo provide for greater responsibility in lending and expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the international financial institutions by low-income countries, and for other purposes LORRAINE C. MILLER,

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION BUYS 174,000 ROUNDS OF HOLLOW-POINT AMMO

By Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall
August 26, 2012
NewsWithViews.com

"The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become." --Ronald Reagan

The Social Security Administration has purchased 174 thousand rounds of hollow point bullets to be delivered to 41 locations in major cities across the U.S. Is the Obama Administration planning to stop issuing Social Security checks? Do they expect violence?

Stories regarding the purchase of the ammo range from 20,000 Spetznazs (Russian commandos) having crossed over the Canadian border into the U.S. and being taken to the underground areas of Denver International Airport to… you name it. Are they true? Who knows?

Republican candidate Mitt Romney has a hard time connecting with conservatives (without whose support he will not be elected). He and his Vice Presidential candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), want to keep the debate focused on the failed economic issues of the Obama administration, but the President favors personal attacks over meaningful debate. If we look at his record, that should surprise no one.

Stop and think for one moment about all of the poor people you’ve known in your life. If you are like me, you may have at one time been one of those people. How many poor people create jobs for others? I didn’t create any jobs for people when I was poor, but later in life after a lot of hard work resulting in success I created a lot of jobs.

We all need to understand that the reason the Obama camp needs to pit the poor against the affluent is because there are always more poor than there are rich – thus, more votes. He must make them feel like Romney is against them – when quite the opposite is true. That’s why Joe Biden told a group of low-income folks that the Romney-Ryan ticket was going to put them “back in chains.”

Regardless, Romney and Ryan both have difficulty (for different reasons) connecting with the American people when they discuss things like job creation and new business start-ups. Romney likes to think his experience as a venture capitalist gives him insight into independent business start-ups and job creation – and it does… slightly. A vast majority of independent businesses, however, are not traded on Wall Street.
The following data was taken from the Small Business Administration (SBA) pages.

Small firms:

• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
• Employ half of all private sector employees.
• Pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years.
• Create more than half of the nonfarm private GDP.
• Hire 43 percent of high tech workers ( scientists, engineers, computer programmers, and others).
• Are 52 percent home-based and 2 percent franchises.
• Made up 97.5 percent of all identified exporters and produced 31 percent of export value in FY 2008.
• Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

Independent businesses create most new jobs. Mitt Romney understands independent business from the perspective of a venture capitalist. Paul Ryan understands it from a budgetary perspective. Thus, neither really understands the banking problems of those who own independent businesses – almost all of whom are conservative and who frequently don’t understand their own business borrowing problems (they aren’t bankers either) and so can’t explain the phenomenon to political candidates. It’s a difficult problem.

Don’t get me wrong. Romney-Ryan are far more in tune with what needs to be done to get business growth and new jobs moving forward than Obama-Biden, but neither is very good at explaining why independent businesses are so important and what needs to be done to motivate new business start-ups. It’s a problem made up of banking and credit issues, not of venture capital or budgets.

First, existing independent business owners utilize their primary residence as their main source of loan collateral. Banks are not lending against personal residences because home values are falling. Before you criticize the bankers, make sure you don’t care if your bank takes risks lending your deposit dollars because poor quality collateral puts your bank deposits at risk. You have a vested interest in your personal bank remaining “safe.”

Second, political candidates need to talk clearly about the problems of independent business. It can be done in few words. For example:

1. “Banks can’t lend money to independent business owners who most often use their home as collateral for business borrowing because the Obama administration has failed to put a floor under the sinking real estate market and property values continue to drop. Bankers would be irresponsible to take people’s homes as collateral on business loans in the current real estate market. They would be putting depositor dollars at risk.”

2. “As Ronald Reagan once said, ‘Government isn’t the solution; it’s the problem.’ We can’t get independent business growth – which is where a majority of new jobs come from – until bankers understand how to make business purpose loans to individuals, not just to corporations. It has been done very successfully in the past and that area of specialty lending needs to be revived.

“Government’s answer is the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA does the same thing bankers do: They make business purpose loans to companies based on business assets, not to individuals based on personal income and assets.

“Independent business owners must borrow as individuals, putting their personal assets at risk, not corporate stock (like multi-nationals and publicly-traded companies do). The banking industry is set up to make business purpose loans based on company assets and cash flow; or, personal loans based on personal assets and cash flow. So, too, is the SBA.

“Independent business owners need business purpose loans based on personal assets and cash flow. The current structure of the banking industry and the SBA prevents that. What’s the result? No loans to independent businesses and thus no new jobs.”

I don’t believe there is one word in those paragraphs that would not be quickly understood by the average American… at least by the average productive American who works and pays taxes.

We have a Republican candidate for the Presidency whose campaign aides don’t know how to respond to demands for more and more years of tax returns. Could there be anything simpler?

There is a picture of Mitt Romney on the right side of your tv screen. The page is titled: “Missing Documents.” Under Romney’s name (and picture, for those who cannot read but who do vote) you list “Income tax returns.”

There is a picture of Barack Obama on the left side of the screen. Under his picture you list: 1) Occidental College records (California); 2) Columbia University records (New York); 3) Harvard University records (Cambridge, MA); 4) Unanswered questions, draft registration card; 5) Unanswered questions, multiple Social Security Numbers; 6) Explanation why Barack and Michele Obama lost licenses to practice law in Illinois.

No voice over is necessary. No one has to touch the birther issue of which Republicans are so frightened. They could just have someone in the background laughing – hard. It is laughable that the Obama campaign would talk about the importance of transparency and Romney’s need to produce tax returns when the President is the King of Hidden Facts.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sickened by the lies and distortions of this political campaign! It seems to be about womens’ uteruses (abortion rights and access to “free” birth control – paid for by taxpayers), the poor and how to give them something for nothing to buy their votes (along with their dignity as human beings), the elderly and whether they will have equal access young people have to health care or whether the Medicare system will fail because of empty promises that cannot be kept versus budgetary constraints that can save the system.

How did that happen when the real issues involve the economy and jobs?

Obama supporters say Mitt Romney killed a man’s wife because he bought a company that was failing (it wouldn’t have been for sale if it wasn’t failing). As you read the following facts about GST Steel, remember that Romney left Bain Capital in February 1999 to lead preparations for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Joe Soptic (the man whose wife died of cancer – may God rest her soul) lost his job in 2001 and his wife maintained health insurance with her employer. Soptic's wife died in 2006, seven years after Romney left Bain Capital. This is a typical liberal attitude… “Everyone but me is responsible that I didn’t have health insurance for over four years after I lost my job because my company closed. My wife got cancer and died. Mitt Romney killed her.”

Here are the facts:

• GST Steel in Kansas City was shut down in 2001.
• Jonathan Lavine, a long-time Bain Capital executive and co-owner of the Boston Celtics. Lavine began his career at Bain in 1993. Today, he is a “bundler” for Obama and has bundled from $100,000 to $200,000 in contributions for the 2012 Obama Victory Fund according to estimates released by the Obama campaign.
• Joe Soptic was offered a buy-out when GST Steel was bought by Bain but refused it.
• Soptic got another job; he declined their insurance plan.
• Soptic’s wife had her own health insurance plan through 2003… two years after Soptic’s company was shut down.
• In 2006, Soptic’s wife was diagnosed with very late-stage cancer.
• She died 22 days after diagnosis.

PAC Priorities USA created the ad blaming Romney for Mrs. Soptic’s death. They should be sued under Federal Communications Commission truth in advertising laws.

Soptic’s pitiable behavior makes it clear that he suffers from guilt. So very sad… sad that it happened, sad that he has not yet come to grips with the reality of his wife’s fate and the factual reasons for it, sad that a politician would use such a situation to make political points. But personal attacks are the only dog Obama has to bring to this fight because his record as President since 2008 is so abysmal he can’t run on it. He – or his minions like PAC Priorities USA – are reduced to using people in pain to tell stories that help them blame others – like Mitt Romney – for their problems.

I’m sick of hearing about abortion… the only thing I’m sicker of is having the government pay for abortions which means my tax dollars are being used to pay for what I consider to be murder. I don’t care if you don’t consider it to be murder. I do. And the truth of the abortion issue is: The Supreme Court (Roe v. Wade still lives) has ruled on the abortion issue and as much as Barack Obama wants you to think the President of the United States can do something about it, he cannot. It doesn’t matter whether his name is Barrack or Mitt. The federal government shouldn’t be in anyone’s bedroom… this is an issue for each state’s voters to decide.

Another thing: We the People are supposed to pay for the birth control of female college students. If Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown law student who testified at Democrat hearings on contraception, is an example of the intellect of today’s law students, we need to prevent lawyers from holding office as elected officials. She is revered by liberals and is scheduled to speak at the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

We have a dumbed-down public that it doesn’t realize all of these disinformation tactics are being used to divert attention from basic problems. To prevent solutions to problems (like job creation) and keep people focused on issues (like birth control).

Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s choice as his Vice Presidential candidate, has good insight into changes that can save Medicare… but the Romney campaign is so bereft of a good communicator! Paul Ryan is a good candidate – he has supported legislation with which I disagree, but our greatest weakness right now is budgetary resulting from Democrat Congressional over-spending – and that is Ryan’s strength. The problem is, his solutions are not easily explained in sound bites… and Obama uses that weakness against Romney-Ryan.

Romney-Ryan need to say: “Here’s your choice: Without changes, Medicare will fail altogether because it is bankrupting America. If that is your preference, vote for Barack Obama. If you want changes made that can save Medicare without changing benefits to current recipients, vote for Romney-Ryan.”

They need to say: “If you are a senior citizen and have a stroke in the middle of the night, Obamacare dictates that you will not be able to get more than basic treatment until a committee meets and approves or denies your doctor’s recommended care. If you have a stroke on Friday night, do you want to wait until Monday morning for the bureaucrats to meet and determine your fate?”

How difficult is it to say: “Those of you who support Obamacare also must approve of over $700 billion stolen by the Democrat Congress from the Medicare fund to pay for the implementation of Obamacare. The Romney-Ryan ticket doesn’t support that theft from Medicare and will repeal this socialist legislation.”

How difficult is it to say: “You are told that an independent third party – non-partisan AARP – approves of Obamacare. AARP represents the best interests of seniors, right?

“AARP operates as a tax-exempt organization in Washington and if it were a for-profit business, AARP would be the sixth-largest insurance company in America with profits of $427 million in 2009. It is estimated AARP’s increased insurance profits will exceed $1 billion when Obamacare is implemented. Romney-Ryan doesn’t support AARP’s profit-based opinions and will work to repeal this legislation.”

Hopefully, after the Republican Convention in Tampa this week, the Romney campaign will start acting like it wants to win!

© 2012 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved

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Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.
Web site: http://marilynwrites.blogspot.com
E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com

CYCLES OF A NATION CALLED AMERICA

PART 2 of 4



By Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall
August 5, 2012
NewsWithViews.com

In a 2010 article titled “APES: Active Passive Energy Syndrome,” I explained the two different personality types that dominate American culture. Well, they dominate culture everywhere, but my research applied the concept to America. It was a series of two articles that explained why some of us are liberal and why some of us are conservative.

APES has definite application to American history. It has important connotations as to what decisions we will make for the future, and why.

A brief overview of the two personality styles is:

1. An Active is a person who comes by wealth by actively managing the risk of loss of one’s own assets to achieve it. Those assets may be money, they may be lifestyle, they may be a home and children, and they may be a job or profession. Wealth is made up of many elements. The character of the person determines the decisions made in life and the decisions made will characterize each person as either Active or Passive.

Thus, Actives are the shopkeepers of America, the independent business owners and the inventors. They are the free enterprisers.

2. Passives are people who come by wealth by allowing others to manage risk of loss for them. Rather than managing the risk of running their own businesses, they become part of a big corporation, for example. Thus, most teachers, professors, corporate executives (yes, even Lee Iacocca… he didn’t lend/risk his own money to save Chrysler; he risked the money of taxpayers), bureaucrats, media types – are Passives.

One good example of the differences between these two groups is their investment habits. Actives invest in themselves… in their ideas, in their businesses. Passives invest in the stock market or their partnership with other CPAs and lawyers (Actives usually have their own, independent practices). Passives create investment products that spread (rather than manage) risk… hedge funds and mutual funds (and life insurance).

Please remember the reference – these explanations represent a brief overview, not an in-depth explanation of a highly complex concept. Four pages of one sentence personality descriptions accompany the research (two pages for each group).

Why am I revisiting this subject? Because most Americans feel the fight between one group and the other; many consider it a fight between good and evil (and it is). Others consider it a fight between political parties (and it is). Still others see it as a fight between freedom and slavery (and it is).

In truth, it is a fight between the preferred lifestyles of Actives (who are motivated by control) and Passives (who are motivated by power). Actives want to control their own destinies (which is why they invest the majority of assets in themselves – something they can control – not the stock or bond markets). Security-motivated Passives invest in stocks and bonds, insurance, hedge and mutual funds – things controlled by others which spread the potential risk of loss. Most people think power and control are the same things. They are not. Control is something one does behind one’s own nose; power is something one exercises behind the noses of others. For a more in-depth explanation, I suggest you read the 2010 APES article.

A look at six Active/Passive energy cycles in American history offers good insight into how each of these groups weave threads into a beautiful blanket resulting in a capitalist country called America.

During the 1600s through the mid-1700s, our nation was known as British North America. Diaries written by early American residents describe local economies as almost totally dependent for survival upon agriculture.

There being little accommodation for visitors, tourism contributed a minuscule portion to local economies. There was minimal trade with European nations, but no delivery system existed from one American community to another. Thus, until the mid-1760's, America had village economies driven by agriculture.

In 1760, the colonies entered a state of unrest. They also entered their first economic cycle driven by Active energies. Those energies motivated the Revolutionary War of the 1770's that ended in 1781. A rag-tag group of America’s colonial soldiers defeated the most dominant military in the world at that time.

Patrick Henry’s cry of “Give me liberty, or give me death,” tells of a man motivated by the management of risk to achieve the moral objective of his right to self-destiny. His cry is the theme song for Active/self investors. To freedom-loving people, there is nothing more exciting than a positive possibility and the desire to make it a reality.

Prior to the Revolutionary War (which gathered momentum from 1760 until the infamous tea party and resultant war over taxation without representation), the American economy and its political structure was controlled by the Crown... by outside forces.

What kinds of people leave a secure, well-ordered society in Europe for the insecurity of unsettled foreign shores? Part of the answer lies in the promise of land ownership and the right to self-destiny. The answer to the question? Actives, the risk managers of the world, leave the security of a well-ordered society for the insecurities of building a new nation.

In the America of old, our ancestors had no control over laws passed to govern them. During the first fifty year cycle (1607/Jamestown to 1660), there were so few people on the continent, so little wealth, so much disease and discomfort, the American colonists were relatively free to pursue their own destinies. A difficult, high-risk destiny it was. There was no “economic drive.” There was no “social agenda.” There was no “political agenda.” The agenda was survival. It was a high-risk environment -- but it offered land and wealth to those who could tolerate and manage risk.

Settling a wild, undeveloped land attracted those with Active energy whose high tolerance for risk management made them willing to wager their lives for freedom from religious persecution and the right to own their own land. There were other benefits – and downsides – too.

They may have been taxed by the British Crown, their laws may have come from foreign soil, but until the 1700's, there was not a great deal of interference from the British King’s military in the lives of American settlers.

The “nation” was so young during this time it could not really be defined as having an economic force with a primary drive. As I said, the primary drive was survival.

From 1660 to 1710, that changed. Wealth began to increase. Free enterprisers established modes of transportation ... stage and shipping companies. Entrepreneurs built small inns and hotels for travelers and tourists. Farms were plentiful. Shipping created an industry of its own with foreign nations of the world.

Security and wealth attract ... what? The Passive energy group. By 1710, the risks of survival on American soil were reduced as the risk-takers completed their jobs. Actives had established a functional social base. Opportunities for the wealth of future generations by land accumulation and the need for products and services in the new country were broadened.

Those with a lower tolerance for risk, motivated by the security of being able to own land, were attracted to American shores. The immediate objective changed from the risk management of establishing a workable social base and the daily life challenges involved in doing so, to making things bigger and more secure. Remember, bigger is safer than smaller and Passives are security-motivated people who like the security of “big.” Thus, we can see from our own history (though it has been the same in all nations of the world) how Actives have a specific role to create and innovate and Passives have a specific role to enlarge what Actives begin. There is a purpose for each group… though Actives have no respect for Passives and Passives fear where the risks being managed by the Active group will lead. They are not compatible groups. They weren’t then and they certainly are not today. Perhaps they were never intended to be compatible… but each has a purpose in a capitalist free enterprise economy.

Members of the Passive energy group began to move from their homes in lands ruled by monarchies to the new land. The thrust of this 1710 to 1760 fifty-year cycle was to secure and stabilize what the founders of Jamestown and Plymouth had begun. It was dominated by those who sought power, and by those who curried the favor of the powerful… at that time, it was still the King of England. Politics and the power that goes with governments that exercise control over the people had begun.

During the 1710 through 1760 fifty-year cycle, Passives brought stability and comfort to the rough-hewn Active American society created from 1660 to 1710.

New Englanders traded freely among themselves as did the colonists who had settled beyond the original Jamestown (or, James Cittie) colony. Thus, when the Active energy cycle of 1760 began, America’s economy was driven by agriculture and was regional (no longer village, or local) in nature. It was still ruled by a foreign monarch.

By 1760, individualistic Actives found themselves losing control of self-destiny. In 1773, the Boston Tea Party occurred. The Active cycle was a teenager. Three years later, Americans began the fight to gain control of their own destinies. They understood the risk-taking involved in forming a new nation. Citizens fought a war to change circumstances dictated by the Crown. They willingly risked their lives, their property, and their wealth to gain independence.

Some historians estimate the Revolutionary War was supported only by about forty percent of the people and was opposed by an equal number. Society today tends to be made up of similar percentages of Actives and Passives... about forty-forty. The remaining twenty percent are non-involved, non-political people who appear to have little drive, Active or Passive.

It is safe to say the period from 1760 through 1810 was dominated by the Active energy group. Most of the founding fathers believed in risk management, (which is a totally different concept than is risk elimination, the stated objective of socialism). Modern Americans appear to have forgotten what motivated (and won) their freedom-loving (often self-gratifying) lifestyles. Risk management, not risk elimination, is the rock upon which freedom is founded. The Revolutionary War was fought by conservatives with Active energy. Their reason for fighting it was to gain and maintain the rights of self-destiny. Passives who were loyal to the Crown did not support the war.

Our early patriots were willing to risk life and limb... provided they controlled the risks taken (a trait among all Actives… the reason in 2012 the Obama Administration is unable to get new jobs created; he wants to dictate the risks independent business owners will take.. and they want none of it). As we neared the end of the fifty-year Passive cycle in 1860, industry and manufacturing, was in its infancy and was beginning to replace agriculture as the driving economic force in America’s northern states. Agriculture (particularly cotton) remained the strength of the south. The nation’s economy was still regional, but the regions expanded in size as industry solidified its toehold.

© 2012 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved


Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous Boards in her community.

Barnewall is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily, Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other national and international publications. She can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

Web site: http://marilynwrites.blogspot.com

E-Mail: marilynmacg@juno.com