Goodbye, 4th Amendment. It was nice knowing you.

Backscatter x-ray scanners, like the the controversial full-body scanners that are being rolled out by the TSA in airports around the U.S., now come in a new and exciting flavor...street-roving van! You read that right, American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica, Massachusetts, is producing these monstrosities. According to AS&E's head of marketing, these vans have been deployed by law enforcement agencies here in the U.S. So much for the 4th Amendment. Watch this video...truly frightening stuff:



I've heard people argue that the TSA scanners are OK because if you don't like it then you don't have to fly. So what's the rationale for these being acceptable? If you don't like it, you don't have to leave your lead-lined bomb shelter?

Classic bump and lift?

Do a quick scan of the news and take a guess at what today's top headline is. Is it "Weekly Jobless Claims Post Surprise Jump, Hit 500,000?" Nope. Is it "More tough economic times forecast by CBO?" Nope, that's not it either. In my own personal experience, the two most talked about stories today are "TIME Poll: Majority Oppose Mosque, Many Distrust Muslims" and "White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily."

What?!

Don't be a mark. Unemployment is officially at 9.5% (although the real number is probably floating around 20%). The economy is still in tatters. There has been no "summer of recovery." With millions of Americans wondering how they're going to feed their families and pay their mortgages, we cannot afford to be distracted.

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book; let's show Washington that we're not going to fall for it anymore.

The Fed makes it rain!

Pretend for a moment that you're the Federal Reserve; since December 2008 you've maintained your key interest rate at right around zero percent and you've committed at least $6.4 Trillion in bailouts, but the economy is still stalled out. To boot, you've already doubled the money supply. So what do you do? Inflate some more, of course!

According to the AP, the Federal Reserve will begin purchasing $10 Billion of government debt monthly. The article describes this as "a small amount;" however, as Murray Rothbard showed rather elegantly $10 Billion can quickly turn into $100 Billion due to our fractional reserve banking system.

So every month the Federal Reserve is going to pump $100 Billion created out of thin air directly into the banking system. Sooner or later all of this money is going to make its way out into the general economy, and when it does, God help us all. Weimar Republic, anyone?

End the Fed already!

Another bailout on the horizon?

Reuters is reporting on a rumored August mortgage bailout in which GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would engage in mortgage debt forgiveness for homeowners that presently have mortgages that exceed the actual value of their homes (aka "underwater"). This could all take place without any Congressional input or oversight.

This will be framed to the American public as a bailout of Main Street, but make no mistake this is just another Wall Street bailout. Banks around the globe are heavily invested in securities that are based on these toxic assets. When the federally-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rewrite the terms of mortgages for homeowners that are underwater, the debt owed doesn't just vanish; it is paid for by US taxpayers. This will make the banks happy because they will now have investments based on assets that are appropriately priced (aka no longer worthless). To add insult to injury, it will only further encourage bad behavior as those who made poor decisions will be rewarded at the expense of those that made good choices and lived within their means. This is known as moral hazard.

More "change" we can believe in!