Foley Aide Claims He Notified Hastert 3 Years Ago

10/04/2006: Every minute Hastert remains the Speaker, he remains the lightning rod for all that went wrong in FoleyGate.

Now, we have a report that a former Foley aide alerted Hastert’s aides about Foley’s behavior.

Hastert claims he didn’t know about this until now–and that may be true. But this happened on his watch.

This is a matter of honor. He needs to resign as Speaker. The buck stops with him, and he must accept the blame.

The larger issue is this: FoleyGate is representative of everything that the GOP has allowed to get out of control in their 12 years in control of the House.

The Party of Reagan–which once promoted the Balanced Budget Amendment and gave Clinton line-item veto authority–has been spending like Michael Jackson on steroids over the last six years.
The Party of Reagan has become the Grand Old Pederasts.

Hastert needs to start fomenting real change. The best way for him to do that is resign his post.

What’s a Christian Conservative to Do?

10/04/2006: For the last 25 years, the Republican party–the GOP–has relied on religious conservatives–mostly evangelical Christians–as their mainstay every election season. Fueled by the Reagan Revolution, the conservatism of the GOP–smaller government, strong national defense, lower taxes, traditional values–was compatible with the worldview of most religious conservatives.

Compounding matters, the Democratic party (DNC) had embraced abortion rights, gay rights, higher taxes, secular socialism, and appeasement of the Soviet Union. While the DNC claimed to be pro-democracy, their aims were/are the same as that of Marx and Lenin. Only they had a veneer of democracy.

Ergo, religious conservatives found a common ally in the GOP. That was cemented in the revolution of 1994.

From 1981 until now–having Republican Presidents in 18 of the last 26 years, and Republicans in control of both houses of Congress for almost all of the last 12 years (controlling the Senate for 10 of them)–the GOP has had some successes:

  • The Republicans ramrodded welfare reform–and forced Clinton to sign it in 1996.
  • The Republicans–with Reagan and Bush 43–have cut taxes.
  • The Republicans–under Reagan–won the Cold War.
  • The Republicans–in the 1990s–kept Clinton’s social spending agenda at bay (which helped give us the surplus).

However…

  • We are no closer to democratically resolving the issue of abortion than we were in 1973. Roe v. Wade is still intact in spite of seven Republican appointments to the Supreme Court. Of those GOP appointees, three–Souter, O’Connor, and Kennedy–voted to uphold Roe and were quite liberal.
  • O’Connor even suggested subjecting our Constitutional interpretations to international legal precedents.
  • Under the current President, spending has gone through the roof.
  • A Republican President has put us in a war that he refuses to allow our troops to win.
  • A Republican Congress–and President–lack the will to deal with the pressing issue of illegal immigration.
  • Government has become the mother of all behemoths, on the watch of the GOP.
  • The GOP is courting murderous regimes–Red China–in the interests of serving Big Business.
  • A Republican Congress is now covering up child sexual abuse scandals.

Now, the GOP is touting Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Michael Bloomberg, George Pataki, and Mit Romney as the front-runners in 2008.

Against that backdrop, what’s a Christian conservative to do?

There was a time in which I would vote “against Democrats” rather than “for Republicans.” This was why I voted for Bush in 1992, Dole in 1996, and Dubya in 2000 and 2004.

This time, however, I am out of the “lesser of two evils” business.

Right now, the DNC and GOP are two drug-addicted whores standing on the street corner. They need your money to support their habits. They dress like beautiful women but–in reality–they are transvestites with AIDS.

The DNC whore will provide you government-funded condom, lube, kiss, handrails, and reach-around.

The GOP whore will provide you a lower-cost experience, but you’ll have to pay for the amenities yourself. Being the “stronger, bolder” whore, the GOP whore will also provide whips and chains. You’ll still have to pay for them, though.

My point: voting for the “lesser evil” means choosing to be screwed.

As for me, until the GOP cleans its house–purging the pederasts and perverts and their enablers, becoming the party of less government, national security and family values–they won’t be getting my vote.

Don’t get me wrong: I won’t support the Democrappers either. I’ll vote Libertarian, or not vote at all.

But the GOP will have to earn my vote.

About that Stock Market Rally…

10/04/2006: I am not surprised that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has now broken past its previous high of six years ago. In fact, I would not be surprised if the DJIA passed the 12,000 mark.
However, I am not about to buy into any idea that this will be a sustained bull market. In fact, I am convinced we are on the brink of a serious economic reckoning.

First, a few words as to why the DJIA is up.

  • The housing market is cooling off, and the bond market is also cold. This is sending the good money back into stocks. Basically, investors are pulling money out of one bubble and creating another bubble. (Whether this will be as monumental as the real estateĀ  bubble remains to be seen.
  • Oil prices are down, and this is cooling off some of the existing inflation fears.
  • Bonds are flat, due to uncertainty about interest rates.

However, there are a couple wild cards in this:

  • Consumer debt. Consumer debt is still expanding, and savings rates are as low as they have been since the Great Depression. As the housing market continues to cool–and it will continue to cool as interest rates contine to rise–consumers will not have the ability to take on more debt. Spending at this rate is simply not sustainable.
  • The Dollar. The U.S. dollar is still down 40% over the past five years. This is a major reason why oil prices are still above $50 per barrel. Unless the dollar recovers, the Euro will eventually supplant the Dollar as the world’s currency.

This brings me to the issue of interest rates. Bernanke has no choice but to keep raising them. His responsibility is to the Dollar, not the economy. If he doesn’t maintain the stability of the Dollar, the economy is toast.

What does this mean?

  1. Avoid the bandwagon. Don’t repeat the mistakes of the late 1990s in which investors were irrationally throwing money at anything that had the “.com” tag on the company name.
  2. Stick to your plan. No matter what the stock market is doing, stick to your own game plan. See a financial planner, and have him or her evaluate your risk profile. As you develop your goals and your investment plan, make sure that your asset allocation remains consistent with your established plan.
  3. Stay diversified. Keep some money in bonds and money market accounts, even if the returns are bad right now. Keep some money in international funds. Keep some money in techs. Keep some in blue chips.
  4. Look to doing some hedging. Make sure you have some “protective puts” commensurate with your portfolio positions. Martin Weiss recommends at least $500 in puts for every $10,000 invested.
  5. Continue to pay off debts. If you are debt-free, don’t go into debt. As interest rates go up, the reward for saving will increase.

At any rate, don’t be overcome by any euphoria. The American economy is still on very shaky ground. This is hardly time for complacency.