Simple Utah Mormon Politics

My dad told me that money trees don't exist. I teach my kids additionally that our family having a money tree would be grossly unfair, because it would allow us an economic advantage over other Americans. It would be the equivalent of counterfeiting. I've now begun to teach my kids, though, that a money tree actually does exist in America, and it accrues to its owners a much worse unfair advantage than I told them about. This money tree is called the Federal Reserve. Another 'family' of sorts, one that we're not allowed to know very much about, has, because of exclusive access to their money tree, a gigantically unfair advantage over the rest of Americans. The Fed money tree is the major reason for the continually increasing divide between rich and poor in the United States. That The Federal Reserve attempts, in the most current manifestation of its chicanery, to drag Congress into its schemes only to diversify the culpability for the current crisis. is one mon...

Yesterday, each member of the Utah Congressional delegation told the Deseret News that they would have to wait and see whether the $700 billion bailout is good for the people of America. The scheme is clearly not good for the United States in the long term--let's just get that out of the way once and for all. For those without conflicts of interest under the current circumstances, it doesn't take long to determine that it's not good for the short term either. When foxes that are guarding the henhouse are given the additional task of delivering the eggs, the eggs invariably get delivered to the wrong place. How can any bailout solution possibly be While we ride out the greatest economic turbulence since the Great Depression, Americans will have a good long opportunity to contemplate just where obeisance to the faux capitalism of the modern-day Robber Gadiantons has gotten us. Maybe those reflections will help us overcome the addiction of electing members of the Gadianton ...

Recent Wall Street thief Henry Paulson is so conflicted in the latest US economic mess that he should step down as Treasury Secretary. He has proven to have only his interest and the interests of his Wall Street friends at heart. Bush is putting on the thumbscrews for Congress to be an accomplice to a $700 billion theft. And Senator Barack Obama, having freshly profited from the spoils of a financial market run amok, blames only Republicans for the mayhem. Latest Bailout Fraught with Problems In the year that Henry Paulson left Wall Street--2006--he received $40 million in earnings. Professional athletes don't make that Are the noses of Obama voters so enamored by the smell of their candidate's behind that nothing can dissuade them from voting for him? much money in one year, and they don't steal it from us, either. Now that Paulson's in the Bush administration, he's pressing hard to help his friends in the finance sector. So is President Bush . Democrats demand...

Ten years ago, President Gordon B Hinckley told members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to get their houses in order and begin to get out of debt, because we might be headed for a depression. Few have listened. It looks like, ten years later, that President Hinckley's warning was rather prophetic. In October 1998, President Hinckley said So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings. We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed. Financial forecasters are The assets shrink, but the debt doesn't. [Unfortunately], this is privatizing gains and socializing losses. And there is something very wrong about that....

At least a few people are admitting that the party's just about over. But a lot of people are living like it's not even close. The lower-tier presidential candidates are pointing out that the economy is on fire, but the mainstream dunderhead candidates have hardly noticed. Meanwhile, the richer are getting richer--at your expense. David Lieberman of USA Today said this this morning: The years of easy money were fun while they lasted. Banks and credit card providers were so flush with cash that they could help virtually anyone - including many who had trouble juggling their bills - pay for whatever they wanted. But the party's over. We've entered a period of tight credit - which could mean jobs lost, retirement plans pruned, college deferred and lifestyles diminished. Across the nation, Americans know that something's wrong. Finally. Somebody noticed. Who caused all this...? The current campaign season is a clear indication that neither of the mainstream par...

When Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae folded under government control a few days ago, it was rumored that the CEOs of both institutions were to be receiving a total of $24 million in severance packages. Currently, those payouts have been put on hold , but what about Fannie and Freddie bribes that have been paid to 354 different Senators and Congressmen over the last 19 years? Shouldn't they have to pay those back? Barack Obama, in his short tenure in the Senate, is number 2 on the list of 'bribees'. Utah Senator Robert Bennett, however, is not far behind. OpenSecrets is reporting that Senator Chris Dodd has taken more in campaign contributions since 1989 from Fannie and Freddie ($165,400) than any other federal government representative. Whether that encompasses 3 or 4 senatorial election cycles, it still means upwards of $40,000 per election has been donated to Dodd by the twin sister shyster financial institutions. Having been elected to the Senate only once, Barack Obama...

CNS News is reporting that US Defense Department intends to sell 1,000 GBU-39 bombs to Israel for $77 million. Congress has thirty days to determine whether it will allow the deal to go through. Is it a good idea? The specter of Iran is being held up as one reason that we should carry out the sale. Some believe the bombs could be used in a strike against Iran’s fortified, underground nuclear facilities. “It is vital to the U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement. The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that the bombs “would likely be used in the event of a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.” The United States is already minding far too many other countries' business. With a huge outcry from American voters, the Establishment seems to be looking for a way to offload some of that responsibility. Israel, with its own nuclear arsenal, already ha...

The attacks of 9/11 had an interesting, but largely unknown genesis. Have you ever heard of "extraordinary renditions"? Not many people have. In the past 10 years or so, these 'tools' have become a common facet of American foreign policy. In multiple instances, such renditions have become the impetus for retaliation in the third world--what the CIA has come to refer to as "blowback". There is no evidence that any of these CIA renditions have made America any safer, but there is ample evidence that they have made our national security much more precarious, particularly before 9/11 . Extraordinary renditions helped radical Muslims to become more radical and reach the boiling point that we now commemorate as 9/11. Even more unfortunately, such renditions have become far more frequent since the attack 7 years ago today. It's called Patriot's Day now. Some of the LDS Scout troops put up flags in their LDS ward neighborhoods America is much more im...

John McCain served two terms in the United States House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 1986, which, since then has been the extent of his career. You'd never know he'd served at all if all you had to go on was his acceptance speech the other night. It was a tidy little way of shifting any sort of blame from the "we" he used so often to a ubiquitous and vague "them". I thought little kids got past the "it's not my fault" stage when they finally grew up. At least Obama doesn't have the audacity to stand Did you catch it the other night? McCain told us, "I've been helping the Federal Government to screw you for the last 20-some-odd years, but that's about to change!!!" out and say "I've been helping the Federal Government to screw you for the last 20-some-odd years, but that's about to change!!!" McCain's speech began somewhat thusly : "You're worried about keeping ...

Sometimes it seems to me that I and other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a hard time accepting those who are different than we are. We often expect others to naturally understand a culture that is completely foreign to them, and to accept the reproof of our “loving scorn” when they don’t measure up to the culture's norms. Elder Marlin K. Jensen, a member of the Church’s Quorums of Seventy, reminded us that Christ wouldn't act this way. Ten years ago, Elder Jensen spent some time publicly explaining that good members of the Church can belong to a variety of political parties (Salt Lake Tribune: "GOP Dominance Troubles Church"). Elder Jensen is a Democrat, and he has become one of the examples in life that I would like to emulate. It seems to me (I thought as I listened to Elder Jensen's talk this morning) that somehow those who are of the Democrat persuasion, despite (or because of?) the fact that they often urge more government...

When I heard that John McCain had picked Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate, my first reaction was: "That's a good choice." I don't know why, because the only things I knew about her were that she's the Alaska governor, and that she's in favor of producing oil from the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. The more I think about it, however, the choice of Palin appears to be a calculated attack against the millions who are thinking about voting 3rd party this election. Based on how everyone has gone ga-ga since Palin's speech last night, the calculation may have succeeded. If so, we are Bozo's (with no offense intended to Governor Palin). Since Palin's selection by McCain, Don't be seduced by the attractiveness of Sarah Palin into voting for a snake. here's what else I've found out about her: She was born in Idaho. She's a former beauty queen, and according to the media (or maybe just Glenn Beck), she's very very ...

I initially thought someone was joking when they told me about this one. I find no mention of it, let alone outrage against it, on MediaMatters.com . Dozens of people have died in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, yet Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann find it funny that Gustav put a damper on Republicans' plans to hold their convention. If Rush Limbaugh had If Rush Limbaugh had said something like this, media outlets would be outraged at the insensitivity. And rightly so. However, this story was not even noticed by the larger media. said something like this, MediaMatters and many other media outlets would be outraged at the insensitivity. And rightly so. However, a look on MediaMatters, USA Today, New York Times, and Washington Post indicates that the story was not even noticed. Watch for yourself what Michael Moore an Keith Olbermann were laughing about on Olberman's show the other night. The problem with political discussion Michael Moore (and Keith Olbermann for that matter...