Common Sense Revisited | June 25, 2011

Radio Show Archive(s):

June 25, 2011

On www.RepublicBroadcasting.org 12pm CST every Saturday

Today's Third Rail Topics:

Mentioned on Phil Pozerderac's Positively Unconstitutional June 25, 2011
The Exchange Stabilization Fund or ESF

http://ia600302.us.archive.org/18/items/MoneyCreators/Coogan-MoneyCreato...

Zero Hedge Article:
The Fed's $600 Billion Stealth Bailout Of Foreign Banks Continues At The Expense Of The Domestic Economy, Or Explaining Where All The QE2 Money Went
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/exclusive-feds-600-billion-stealth-bail...
In summary, instead of doing everything in its power to stimulate reserve, and thus cash, accumulation at domestic (US) banks which would in turn encourage lending to US borrowers, the Fed has been conducting yet another stealthy foreign bank rescue operation, which rerouted $600 billion in capital from potential borrowers to insolvent foreign financial institutions in the past 7 months. QE2 was nothing more (or less) than another European bank rescue operation!

Rolling Stone Article
The People vs. Goldman Sachs
A Senate committee has laid out the evidence. Now the Justice Department should bring criminal charges

They weren't murderers or anything; they had merely stolen more money than most people can rationally conceive of, from their own customers, in a few blinks of an eye. But then they went one step further. They came to Washington, took an oath before Congress, and lied about it.
Thanks to an extraordinary investigative effort by a Senate subcommittee that unilaterally decided to take up the burden the criminal justice system has repeatedly refused to shoulder, we now know exactly what Goldman Sachs executives like Lloyd Blankfein and Daniel Sparks lied about. We know exactly how they and other top Goldman executives, including David Viniar and Thomas Montag, defrauded their clients. America has been waiting for a case to bring against Wall Street. Here it is, and the evidence has been gift-wrapped and left at the doorstep of federal prosecutors, evidence that doesn't leave much doubt: Goldman Sachs should stand trial.
This article appears in the May 26, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone. The issue is available now on newsstands and will appear in the online archive May 13.
Full article: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-people-vs-goldman-sachs-20110511

Inside Job Documentary
“Inside Job”: A Wall Street Government

Commentary/Politics - Editorials
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Written by Kathleen McCarthy   
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 17:29
“Men who destroyed their own companies and plunged the world into financial crisis walked away from the wreckage with their fortunes intact.” – Inside Job
The Academy Award-winning documentary Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson, is now out on DVD. The film, narrated by Matt Damon, documents the origins of the financial meltdown that defined the end of George W. Bush’s second term, and the fallout that is defining Barack Obama’s presidency.
Inside Job is well-crafted, pulls no punches, and is a must-rent DVD for anyone who wants to understand in layman’s terms who and what caused the financial “Armageddon” that continues to plague global and domestic markets. Most importantly, Inside Job showcases how nothing has changed – and it’s about to happen all over again if we don’t wise up.

Lew Rockwell Article on Sovereignty

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tyner9.1.1.html

It's probably worthwhile, at this point, to stop and look at a few of the constitutions drawn up by the colonies. New Hampshire: "The people of this state have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent state". Massachusetts: "The people of this commonwealth have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves, as a free, sovereign, and independent state". North Carolina: "All political power is vested in and derived from the people; all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only [...] The people of this State have the inherent, sole, and exclusive right of regulating the internal government". Virginia: "A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the good people of Virginia in the exercise of their sovereign powers".

All of the states' constitutions of the time contain similar language. Even Hawaii, the last state admitted to the union, has very similar language in its constitution: "All political power of this State is inherent in the people and the responsibility for the exercise thereof rests with the people". The point of this exercise is to demonstrate that 1.) the states predate any central/federal government, 2.) the states were independent, sovereign nations, unto themselves, and 3.) the people of the states were their sovereign rulers. These facts are recognized in other documents of the time. The Declaration of Independence: "We [...] solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States". The Articles of Confederation: "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence". The Treaty of Paris in 1783: "His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, [list omitted], to be free sovereign and independent states". The 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution which confirms that powers were delegated, not relinquished: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
In short, the states are sovereign nations, and according to their constitutions, the people are their sovereign rulers. I've pointed to a number of old documents confirming this, but here is something more recent. The Department of State lists (see page 289) the Treaty of Paris' Article 1 (the article mentioned above) as still being in force as of January 1, 2010. Even the federal government, however obscurely, still recognizes that the states are sovereign. It is up to the people to (re)assert this sovereignty.

Grand Juries

When indictment necessary--grand jury. SEC. 11. All offenses less than felony and in which the maximum permissible imprisonment does not exceed thirty days shall be tried summarily before an officer authorized by law, on information under oath, without indictment, or the intervention of a grand jury, saving to the defendant the right of appeal; and no person shall be held to answer for any higher criminal offense, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except in cases arising in the army, or navy, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger.
The grand jury may consist of any number of members not less than five, nor more than fifteen, as the general assembly may by law provide, or the general assembly may provide for holding persons to answer for any criminal offense without the intervention of a grand jury. 
Paragraph 2 added 1884, Amendment [9] 
Paragraph 1 amended 1998, Amendment [46] 
As to indictment and the number of grand jurors, see R.Cr.P. 2.3, 2.4 
Magistrate jurisdiction, see §602.6405 of the Code

2.3(3) Discharging and summoning jurors.
j. Duty of grand jury. The grand jury shall inquire into all indictable offenses brought before it which may be tried within the county, and present them to the court by indictment. The grand jury shall meet at times specified by order of a district judge. In addition to those times, the grand jury shall meet at the request of the county attorney or upon the request of a majority of the grand jurors.
It is made the special duty of the grand jury to inquire into:
(1) The case of every person imprisoned in the detention facilities of the county on a criminal charge and not indicted.
(2) The condition and management of the public prisons, county institutions and places of detention within the county.
(3) The unlawful misconduct in office in the county of public officers and employees.