Author: Personal Liberty

03.02.10 07:01 PM

Republican lawmakers blasted the Obama administration’s mortgage assistance program last week, claiming that it has harmed the nation’s economic recovery.

Representatives Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) argue that the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which provides incentives for mortgage companies to modify loans of qualified buyers, has failed "by every empirical measure" and is a waste of taxpayer’s money.

When President Obama unveiled the program one year ago, he said that it would help 3 million to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure, according to ABC News. As of last month, the Treasury Department estimated that 116,000 homeowners have received permanent loan modifications.

"[The] Treasury’s own data suggests that hundreds of thousands of homeowners would receive temporary modifications but fail to qualify for permanent ones, thus ultimately leading to default," said the lawmakers. "These homeowners would have been better off if they had defaulted earlier and spent the payments on more affordable housing options."

Officials with the Treasury Department have admitted that the treatment of borrowers has been a dilemma over the past year, according to the Associated Press. They are currently working on several consumer protection provisions, including barring lenders from foreclosing on homeowners while their applications are being considered.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…gram-19638720/

03.01.10 07:01 PM

As the $15 billion jobs bill advanced through Congress last week, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said the measure included no verification mechanism to ensure that newly created jobs will be filled by legal U.S. workers.

FAIR also alleges that the bill, which was authored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), does not prevent employers from claiming tax credits and exemptions if the workers they hire are illegal aliens.

"It is unconscionable that while some 25 million Americans are unemployed or relegated to part-time work, the Senate is refusing to include protections that would guarantee that newly-created jobs are filled by Americans who desperately need them," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR.

He accused Reid of "consistently" blocking any efforts to prevent businesses that receive government contracts or tax benefits from hiring illegal immigrants.

The bill is a package of tax credits and exemptions for employers who create new jobs. On Feb. 23, five Republicans, including the newly elected Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.), joined 57 Democrats in breaking the Republican filibuster, opening the way to the final vote.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…iens-19635645/

03.01.10 07:01 PM

When leptin and insulin are disrupted with a diet of sugar and grain there is a miscommunication in the body about where to store excess fat.

Some fat will be stored in the abdomen and liver, which throws the liver function off-kilter and starts a process of breakdown of muscle and bone—causing weakness and osteoporosis. Now we have a serious problem of insulin resistance and high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.

When we see the big apple-shaped middle we are looking at insulin resistance and disease.

http://www.personalliberty.com/healt…th-your-bones/

03.01.10 07:01 PM

After losing their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democratic leaders have acknowledged that they may utilize the controversial parliamentary procedure known as budget reconciliation to pass their version of the healthcare bill.

The tactic would allow Democrats to push through major aspects of the bill with just 51 votes, rather than the 60 that are usually required to overcome a filibuster.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)and other GOP leaders have lashed out at Reid for trying to jam through a piece of legislation that is being heavily resisted by the American people. Republicans are also questioning the timing of Reid’s threat to use the parliamentary procedure on the eve of the bipartisan healthcare summit hosted by President Obama.

"It’s hard for us to quite understand why, with reconciliation being planned, we’re having a meeting which is allegedly designed to engender some bipartisan agreement," said Senater John Kyl (R-Ariz.).

Reid warned the GOP to "stop crying" over the possibility of reconciliation, as it has been used by Republicans many times in the past. He noted that the shortcut has been used 21 times since 1981.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…tion-19635609/

02.28.10 07:01 PM

A new survey has found that while Americans tend to appreciate President Obama’s efforts on the national security front, many are also disappointed with his handling of the economic policies at home.

The poll, conducted by Franklin & Marshall College in conjunction with Hearst Television, revealed that 57 percent of registered American voters approve of the way Obama is dealing with the situation in Afghanistan, and half also approve of the way he is handling national security issues.

However, only 45 percent of registered respondents agree with the way the president is dealing with the country’s economic problems.

Republicans may also find reason for optimism during this midterm election year, as the poll is just the latest to reveal that more Americans now say they would vote for the Republican candidate (39 percent) than the Democratic candidate (35 percent), if the House elections were held today. In September 2009, the Democrats led the Republicans, 43 percent to 30 percent, on this question.

Among other finds, the study uncovered a low level of optimism about the course the U.S. is on, with only one in three citizens (35 percent) believing the country is headed in the right direction.

And although most people cite the economy and personal finances as the most challenging problems their families currently face, an overwhelming 75 percent also agree that the healthcare system needs to be reformed.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…home-19627280/

02.28.10 07:01 PM

With tax time just around the corner, many Americans may soon be looking to relieve their stress by drinking chamomile tea. A new controlled research trial has found that chamomile extract therapy can be effective in treating mild to moderate symptoms related to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

The study followed patients with moderate GAD who received either chamomile or placebo treatment. Patients who took chamomile extract were found to have a significant decrease in the severity of their anxiety compared to those who received the placebo.

These findings are significant "because many individuals who suffer from GAD do not view their anxiety as a medical condition, [so] self-diagnosis and self-medicating with alternative, over-the-counter remedies is common," said Michael Van Ameringen and Beth Patterson, who evaluated the study for Faculty of 1000, a website which assesses current scientific research papers.

They added that chamomile may be especially useful for those who are averse to conventional pharmacotherapy.

Chamomile has also been touted as a natural remedy for digestive disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and diarrhea.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…iety-19619702/

02.28.10 07:01 PM

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has accused fellow Republicans of being hypocrites for criticizing last year’s recovery act while willingly accepting stimulus money for their own state.

Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Schwarzenegger stated that the $787 billion stimulus bill was imperative and mocked members of the GOP for not working with the current administration.

"I find it interesting that you have a lot of the Republicans running around and pushing back on the stimulus money and saying this doesn’t create any new jobs," Schwarzenegger said.

"And then they go out and they do the photo ops and they are posing with the big check and they say, ‘Isn’t this great? Look what kind of money I provide here for the state.’…It doesn’t match up," he added.

The California governor also agreed that the GOP was the "Party of No," as many liberals have branded it. He said that Republican opposition to President Obama is driven by the party’s desire to win mid-term elections in November.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…kage-19630028/

02.28.10 07:01 PM

A recent study has found that combining tamoxifen, the most prescribed breast cancer drug in the world, with a compound originating from the feverfew plant may help prevent initial or future resistance to the medication.

"A solution to tamoxifen resistance is sorely needed, and if a strategy like this can work, it would make a difference in our clinical care of breast cancer," said Robert Clarke, the study’s lead investigator.

Approximately 70 percent of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are prescribed tamoxifen, although half of those individuals do not initially respond to the drug due to an aggressive resistance.

In the study, researchers from the Georgetown University Medical Center found that the purified chemical known as parthenolide, a derivative of feverfew, was able to successfully block the activity of nuclear factor kappa B (NF- ?B), a protein complex that is often over-expressed in breast cancer patients, leading to the body’s resistance to tamoxifen.

Although the researchers are optimistic, they believe that it is too early to recommend the drug combination to patients as they are still unsure of its long-term benefits.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…drug-19624824/

02.25.10 07:01 PM

At the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has once again called for a return to the gold standard and abolishing the Fed, and his message seems to be resonating with many conservatives. However, Paul’s growing popularity has many GOP insiders worried.

After the speech, in which he called national debt "the monster" that is keeping the economy close to the brink, the traditional CPAC presidential straw poll showed Paul winning over other potential candidates. In total, the Texas congressman garnered 31 percent of the vote, leaving former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at a distant second with 22 percent, according to media reports.

However, even though The National Inflation Association said it was "thrilled" with Paul’s anti-inflation stance, many conservatives have been wary of his growing influence within the GOP.

Politicians such as former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said it makes the party lean too much into the libertarian direction, while conservative commentator David Frum called Paul’s financial proposals "far from golden."

Writing for CNN, Frum suggested that the recession of 1929 turned into the Great Depression because political decision-makers at the time were "trapped" by the rules of the gold standard. Those rules forced them to cut spending and raise taxes during a downturn, thus "capsizing" the economy into depression.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…ssed-19632895/

02.25.10 07:01 PM

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has criticized the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), whose recent conference he refused to attend, alleging it has departed from its conservative principles.

Speaking on Fox News last weekend, Huckabee said that CPAC has become "more libertarian and less Republican over the last few years, one of the reasons why I [did not attend the event] this year."

The former GOP presidential candidate also suggested that the popularity of the Tea Party nation movement and its events all over the country have caused the influence of the CPAC to rapidly decline, and the organization is becoming irrelevant.

"The Tea Party has taken all the oxygen out of the room, where CPAC was historically the event," he told Fox News host Geraldo Rivera.

Huckabee was partially responding to the CPAC presidential straw poll over the weekend, in which he scored only 4 percent among CPAC voters and came in sixth place.

Meanwhile, CPAC representatives responded to the former governor’s allegations by saying they were "perplexed" and denied the purported libertarian slant.

According to the American Conservative Union, the organization that has hosted CPAC for 37 years, the 2010 event drew more than 10,000 conservative activists from across the country, including more than 5,000 college students.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…rian-19632896/

02.25.10 07:01 PM

Well, once again Barack Obama’s schedule conflicts with mine. The President has announced that he will host a “bipartisan summit” on healthcare this coming Thursday in Washington.

I say “this coming Thursday,” but by the time you read this, it will have been “yesterday.” That’s because I submit this column five days before you read it. So my comments about the healthcare summit—like the one last month, on POTUS’ SOTUS—will have to wait for a week-plus after the event. (In case you’re not up on your Washington acronyms, POTUS’ SOTUS stands for the President of the United States’ State of the Union Speech.)

Every week I write three columns for Personal Liberty Alerts, the wonderful free ezine you just clicked on. Straight Talk (the one you’re reading now) is the lead column every Friday morning. Also on Friday, I write a mini-column called Chip Shots that is the last item on the page. Chip Shots, as the name implies, is a collection of interesting little tidbits from the news. (For example, in today’s effort the first item is the scariest proposal to come out of Washington in a long, long time.)

Then on Wednesday I write another mini-column called This Week in History. This one gives me an opportunity to look back over the past 200 years and select one meaningful event to share with you. For example, two days ago I wrote about “The worst-ever addition” to the U.S. Constitution. Hint: It happened 94 years ago and costs you a ton of money every year. To read it, or any of the past columns, click on the archives tab to the right of this column.

The reason I mention all of this now is that today’s column is about another event in history—the signing one year ago this week of Barack Obama’s $787 “stimulus” bill.

Yes, the White House wants to go all-out to rewrite history about the biggest spending bill in history. It has announced that Vice President Joe Biden and various Federal officials will fan out across the country to speak at numerous rallies that are being staged to “celebrate” this wonderful program.

But what the heck are they celebrating? Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) said recently that any businessman in this country who has hired one new worker has done more for jobs creation than all of Obama’s hundreds of billions.

When he signed the bill into law 12 months ago, President Obama promised that unemployment would never get above 8 percent. A few months later it passed 10 percent. And even that figure is dishonestly low. It does not include anyone who has gotten so discouraged he has stopped looking for work. Nor does it include anyone who lost a full-time job and was forced to accept a part-time job at much lower pay.

The real unemployment figure in this country is at least double the reported number. And it’s probably much higher than that. But don’t count on Obama and his buddies to tell you the truth.

And don’t expect them to tell you the truth about any jobs that were created, either. A year ago, President Obama fully promised that 90 percent of the new jobs would be created in the private sector. An analysis by The New York Times found “the data suggests that well over half of the jobs claimed so far have been in the public sector.” Isn’t that great? Your tax dollars are being used to make our gargantuan government even bigger.

And how about this? We now know that hundreds of millions of stimulus money was spent to create jobs overseas! Thousands of jobs that the White House claimed to have created are in places that don’t even exist! Plus, USA Today reported recently that billions of stimulus dollars are being spent on programs that are so inefficient or redundant that the Administration now wants to cut or eliminate them.

Please tell us, Joe: What the heck will you be “celebrating” this week?

One more rant and I’ll get off this soapbox. When he signed this odious piece of legislation a year ago, our president declared that the money would be spent on “shovel-ready” programs. Every penny would go to work promptly, we were assured, to patch roads, repair bridges, improve sanitation and otherwise fix our shaky infrastructure.

Today, one year later, only one-third of the stimulus funds have actually been spent. Did you know that? Were you aware that of all the money Congress appropriated for this pork-packed monstrosity, a little more than $500 billion remains unspent?

Barack Obama wants to send Joe Biden around the country, bragging about what a spectacular success the stimulus package has been. And the VP—who has absolutely no problem claiming that black is white, hot is cold and wet is dry, if that’s what his boss wants—cheerfully goes along with the fraud.

But the American people haven’t been fooled. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll reported that only 6 percent of the public thinks the stimulus bill has created any jobs.

Let me repeat that number: Just six Americans out of 100 believe Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill did what it was supposed to do. No wonder the White House has told its many minions not to use the word “stimulus” any more. Now it’s a “jobs creation” program. Or maybe a “jobs savings” program. At least that’s what Biden and Obama hope it will turn out to be… for them.

Before I get off my soapbox for another week, let me mention one more deceit that President Obama loves to utter. Time after time, he defends his massive deficits and budget-busting spending programs by claiming that he inherited “a trillion-dollar deficit” from President Bush.

No, he didn’t. While I’m no fan of the debt George W. piled on the backs of us poor taxpayers, his last deficit was less than half the total our Dissembler in Chief likes to claim. Here are the facts: The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reports that George Bush’s deficit for fiscal 2008 was $454.8 billion. While that’s a lot of red ink, it’s less than half of the number Obama likes to use.

To get the higher number, the White House engages in some sneaky slight-of-hand. It adds $700 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to the CBO number, thus coming up with a deficit of over $1 trillion.

The problem with that particular bit of chicanery is that the Treasury only spent $400 billion of the TARP funds while Dubya was still in office. The other $300 billion was handed over to President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner in early 2009.

And here’s one more little factoid these grand deceivers like to ignore: Most of the funds the Bush Administration paid out have been returned to the U.S. Treasury… with interest.

So if smilin’ Joe Biden comes to your town and hosts a public rally bragging about all the wonderful things the Obama Administration has done to create jobs with your tax dollars, use the information in this report to set the record straight.

After all, that’s why it’s called Straight Talk.

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

—Chip Wood

http://www.personalliberty.com/chip-…e-celebration/

02.25.10 07:01 PM

The $15 billion jobs bill that was kept alive on Monday by five republicans who crossed the aisle to support cloture, including newly elected Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.), passed in the Senate on Wednesday.

Brown and four other Republicans joined 57 Democrats in voting to block a GOP-led filibuster of the jobs bill, which was championed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

"I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families," said Brown, who represents the 41st Republican vote in the Senate.

"This jobs bill is not perfect … but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work," he added.

Brown also noted that he wished the tax cuts for businesses outlined in the bill were deeper and more expansive.

If passed, the bill will exempt businesses from Social Security payroll taxes if they hire the unemployed as well as give them another $1,000 tax credit if new workers remain on the job for a full year, according to Fox News.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…bill-19633063/

02.25.10 07:01 PM

Low potassium levels may lead to an increased risk of hospitalization or death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure, according to a new study.

"Hypokalemia, or low potassium, is common in heart-failure patients and is associated with poor outcomes, as is chronic kidney disease," said study author C. Barrett Bowling, fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham division of gerontology.

"But little is known about the prevalence and effect of hypokalemia in heart-failure patients who also have CKD," he added.

In the study, researchers examined data from more than 1,000 patients suffering from CKD and heart failure. During the 57-month follow-up period, a total of 48 percent of patients with hypokalemia died, compared to only 36 percent of individuals with normal potassium levels. The hospitalization rate was also slightly higher for those with moderate to high hypokalemia.

The researchers concluded that physicians need to be aware of the risks heart failure and CKD patients with mildly low potassium levels may be facing.

Several major food groups that are high in potassium include root vegetables, fresh fruit, dairy and white meats.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…tion-19632816/

02.24.10 07:01 PM

In a recent speech, former Alaska governor and unofficial leader of the Tea Party nation, Sarah Palin, called on its activists to join forces with one of the established political parties to boost their electoral chances in November.

Palin pointed out that since independents are such an important part of the movement and "we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: ‘R’ or ‘D’," quoted by CBS.

The former vice presidential candidate’s call may appear surprising, because when she addressed the first national Tea Party convention earlier this month, she praised its decentralized nature and said it consisted of "real people, not politicos, inside-the-beltway professionals."

However, it seems that at least some members of the anti-establishment movement may be receptive to her new message. According to The Daily Citizen, a newspaper in Georgia, local Tea Party organizers hope to recruit conservative Democrats.

"We need to reach out to Democrats," said Naomi Swanson, an organizer of area chapters, quoted by the news provider. "And you know what? I think they’re ready. So let’s put that on our list."

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…rats-19630106/

02.23.10 07:01 PM

Youth is everywhere. The Barack Obama administration is packed with young academics. Big corporations enlist young people the way an army conducts a draft. Yet the greatest danger to your pocketbook and overall prosperity is the youth that invests America’s money.

According to Money Magazine, the average age of a stock fund manager is a tad over 30. Now that I am in my 50s that makes me more than a little alarmed. I remember when I was young; when I was a dumb college kid.

Years ago disaster stalked me. At the time I was in my 20s, unaware of calamity until it was sprung upon me.

My dad and I motored towards the extreme end of Idaho’s Lake Coeur d’Alene.

After several arm-aching pulls on the starter cord we had the trolling engine sputtering along. We traced the outlines of the pristine bays and points along the southern shores.

It was a lazy afternoon; the calm before the storm. Over the rhythmic cough and choke of the outboard, from a distance of at least half a mile, I heard a squirrel skipping through the turquoise pines. How strange, I thought. I glanced towards shore and noticed an absolute deadness to the lake—a motionless mass of water stretching out like a giant sheet of stainless steel.

Above the tree-line I saw a monster: colossal cumulus black clouds—swirling and spinning—compressed upon the forest hills. Within this charcoal mass was a tiny grey vortex, tipped to its side, spinning downward, as if to reach out and pull us in.

Now my father was the calmest man I’ve ever known. In fact I had never seen him excited by Mother Nature, an amazing accomplishment for a man who spent most of his life on the brutal Canadian prairies. But this day was different.

As I pointed my finger towards the horizon the old man jumped to his feet and shoved a cigarette in his mouth.

I should have been on notice. The old man never swore and he never, ever panicked. But he was cursing like a sailor and tossing gear about as though we had just been called to general quarters. Before I could manage to reel in the second line, our cabin-cruiser was up and running.

“Our best out is to outrun this,” yelled the old man above the roar of the V-8.

Moments later the rain and wind pounced on the cove we had just evacuated.

After another 20 minutes the storm was closing fast. Across the lake stretched a line. It was surreal—on one side tranquility; on the other, chaos.

Dad yelled, “Get the lifejackets!”

Now that concerned me. The old man wasn’t a life jacket kind of guy. He had never so much as worn a seatbelt.

As I jumped below deck I remembered that I had forgotten to transfer the life jackets into the new boat (remember… dumb college kid).

As I stumbled up to tell the old man about the jackets the storm had closed to within a hundred yards of us. I was shocked by its enormity. The waves were huge. Only half home and we were about to be engulfed by a typhoon.

“Where are the jackets?”

I had to say something, so I lied. “I can’t find them.”

I will never forget the look on his face. It was a combination of rage and terror. For a moment, I didn’t know what to fear more—the old man or the storm.

“You idiot,” he screamed. “You can’t find them because you didn’t pack’em!”

By this time the storm had closed to within yards of us. For a few seconds it engulfed only our stern, turning the boat into a gigantic surfboard. Then it grabbed us whole.

All hell broke loose. A tremendous wave crashed over our starboard. Inside the cabin, dishes and groceries flew across the galley. We began taking on water.

Dad switched on the sump-pump, but the up-swell was beyond its capacity. The lake opened up into a giant trough.

I couldn’t help but notice that the boat was lower. Inside the cabin there was water.

Then it hit me: we had no life raft, no life jackets, not even a two-way radio. We were trapped in this damn boat. If it sank, so would we! We were 20 minutes from the marina. I didn’t know if we could make it, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about any of it.

Then, through the grace of God, the storm began to dissipate. By the skin of our teeth we reached the marina.

Others weren’t so lucky. We saw a 21-foot ski boat sink just outside the marina. Later an old timer told us that it was the worst storm he had seen in 60 years.

Two things still stick in my mind: The utter calm before the storm, and my idiotic complacency, even after its approach.

My fear is we face another financial storm, this one from a tsunami of dollars that have been created by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.

Yet that has created a perfect storm for rampant inflation.

Over the past year the Obama administration and Wall Street have been urging banks to increase lending. However the banks have not yet lent out much of the new reserves that the Fed has created. Rather they have left these reserves on deposit.

That means that the velocity of all this new money (how fast it changes hands) has been slow. But that will change as soon as the banks begin lending in earnest which will likely happen this year.

It is little wonder, then, that Reuters reported last week that, “the ultra-rich are increasingly buying copper, nickel and other physical commodities to shield themselves from paper-money inflation.”

According to Ronald Wildmann, who manages three Basinvest funds from Zurich: "As a wealthy person, the worst that can happen to you is not that your relationship manager gives you bad advice. What is much more worrisome is when you wake up in the morning and you look out the window and paper money is worthless."

Wildmann is in his late 40s and is one of the few money managers that even sees the potential for an inflationary storm. The majority of fund mangers are a generation younger and so busy fishing for profits that they haven’t even looked towards the horizon.

But a financial squall is approaching just as surely as that lake storm struck my dad and me three decades ago. When it does, Big Board stocks and blue chip bonds will collapse. At the same time fortunes will be made in hard assets, especially gold and silver.

Action to take: I urge you to divest out of paper in all but the most special situations and buy shares in either blue chip gold and energy companies or physical precious metals.

Yours for real wealth and good health,

John Myers
Myers’ Energy and Gold Report

http://www.personalliberty.com/john-…t-cant-see-it/

02.23.10 07:01 PM

In Mitt Romney’s upcoming book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, the former Massachusetts governor blasts President Obama for continually apologizing for the United States on a global stage.

"Never before in American history has its president gone before so many foreign audiences to apologize for so many American misdeeds, both real and imagined," wrote Romney, quoted by Fox News.

The former GOP presidential candidate added that Obama’s remorseful tone often kindles anti-American fires that are burning overseas.

Romney also heavily criticizes the implementation of the Wall Street bailout, uncontrolled government spending and the "all-Democratic" stimulus package passed in early 2009.

"New expensive programs and entitlements must be off the table," he says, quoted by the news source. "If we do not bring government finances under control, our recovery will be long and slow, and we will risk another downturn precipitated by a severely weakened dollar," he added.

Many commentators believe that Romney’s book tour will set the stage for a second White House run in 2012. He plans to make a stop in 19 states, including several swing states also visited by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on her recent book tour.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…r-in-new-book/

02.23.10 07:01 PM

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush told Fox and Friends last week that populist anger toward Washington could result in a political "tsunami" that sweeps many Democrats out of Congress come the mid-term elections this November.

"I think we’re living in such a complex world and our federal government just appears—and not just appears—is pretty incompetent," said Bush.

The former governor blasted President Obama for not adapting his ideology in light of populist displeasure regarding the administration’s policies. Bush also mentioned that the president and other Democrats should have learned something from Republican Scott Brown’s recent senatorial victory in Massachusetts, a historically liberal state.

"My prediction is if the administration and Congress doesn’t try to change its course, there will be huge gains for challengers to incumbents, but most particularly for conservatives, most particularly for Republicans," said Bush.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Dick Cheney told political activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday that he believes Barack Obama is a "one-term president."

Cheney noted that the recent GOP victories in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia are "enormously encouraging" for Republican prospects this fall, according to The Washington Post.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…mber-19627342/

02.22.10 07:01 PM

America’s most famous plumber was the talk of the 2008 presidential campaign, but it seems that two years later there is no love lost between Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, who came to symbolize the GOP’s popular appeal, and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was the party’s presidential candidate.

During last weekend’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania for gubernatorial candidate Sam Rohrer, Wurzelbacher—commonly known as Joe the Plumber—said McCain is "no public servant" and a "career politician."

In a subsequent interview with Pennsylvania Public Radio, Wurzelbacher went on to claim that McCain tried to use him in the 2008 campaign and he "really screwed up my life."

"I don’t owe him s**t," he responded to the host’s suggestion that he is famous because of McCain.

Joe the Plumber also said he no longer supported Sarah Palin—McCain’s 2008 running mate—since she has endorsed the Arizona senator for reelection in November.

Surprisingly, the 36-year-old had kinder words for President Obama, reportedly saying that "his ideology is un-American, but he’s one of the more honest politicians. At least he told us what he wanted to do," according to media reports.

Since the 2008 presidential election, Wurzelbacher published a book about his experiences, and has appeared as a motivational speaker and commentator.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…bama-19619714/

02.22.10 07:01 PM

Stress is one of the leading causes of illness in the United States. Indeed, nearly 66 percent of all signs and symptoms presented in doctors’ offices in the U.S. are stress induced.

The effects of stress include nail biting, anxiety, a racing mind, obsessive thoughts, compulsive behavior, unending worry, muscle tension and spasm, poor appetite or too great an appetite, digestive disorders, constipation, insomnia, poor blood flow, belabored breathing, neck pain, shoulder tension and the possible onset or continuation of bad habits such as dependence on alcohol, drugs, painkillers, food and caffeine.

Any one of these things by itself can trigger any number of different types of illnesses. But when these forces of antagonism are combined (as they generally are when triggered by stress), the health problems often become chronic and insufferable.

The Psychology of Stress

Stress is an interesting phenomenon. It means different things to different people. What we each individually consider to be stressful is largely a matter of our perception. Indeed, our perceptions are our realities and so what we think is posing a threat is actually doing so by virtue of our established belief system. Moreover, there are many kinds of stressors—physical (the response to being frightened), emotional (loss of a loved one), psychological (obsessive thoughts), spiritual (loss of faith) and psychosomatic (the need for attention).

Physiologically, stress is responsible for initiating the fight or flight response in the face of perceived danger. This means that when we are confronted with a danger, our body automatically prepares us to deal with the coming stressful situation by focusing our attention, pumping more blood into our muscles and sending adrenaline through our system to ready it for action. It is precisely this response that helps protect the body and return it again to homeostasis. However, too much stress, or stress left unresolved for too long a time, can lead to biological damage.

You see, at the onset of perceived danger the body is quickly jolted into fight or flight mode, which means stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are pumped into the bloodstream. However, at the conclusion of the danger episode, the body does not as automatically calm down and return to homeostasis. In fact, it takes a great deal of time for the body to return to so-called normal conditions. But often this cannot happen because another stressor may present itself (e.g., sitting in traffic, standing in line at the bank, missing a deadline) and this will send our body into “code red” mode all over again.

The effects of such prolonged or recurring stress is that it keeps the autonomic nervous system from balancing, which can lead to problems with the gastrointestinal tract, the digestive system, the respiratory system and the neuronendocrine system. Stress can also lead to depression, anxiety, muscle tension and insomnia. All of these are known triggers of various mental and physical (mind/body) illnesses and diseases.

A Stressful Example

The vicious cause and effect cycle of stress is readily seen in our workforce, wherein productivity and the meeting of deadlines and bottom-line expectations lead us down a harrowing headache path. Consider the average day in the life of a corporate worker: Wakes up early, skips breakfast and rushes to the office; begins harboring stress and anxiety while watching the clock sitting in traffic; sits all day at the computer and talking on the phone; takes breaks not to stretch and take deep breaths of fresh air, but to artificially stimulate the body to work harder through taking a cigarette and coffee break. After that it’s back to work pushing productivity in an attempt to meet expectations wherein stress and tensions rise and take hold of the body; after work, to relax—office co-workers are joined for happy hour—wherein the body is nourished with more caffeine, cigarettes and now alcohol. Round and round, day after day, until the body rebels and “tells” you something is very wrong by way of an ulcer, gastrointestinal disorder or chronic pain in some manifestation.

Stress is killing us!

Ten Stress Busters

The idea behind living a stress-free life is to remove the things in your life that are causing you to be stressed. Of course this is easier said than done, but it is truly the only way to not have stress. Here are 10 simple things you can do on a daily basis to reduce the symptoms of stress.

• Walk outside for at least 20 continuous minutes every day.
• Take the stairs whenever possible.
• Take 10 deep belly breaths every hour.
• Drink plenty of pure water—at least 10 glasses a day.
• Avoid sugar and caffeine in all forms.
• Regulate sleep and wake cycles to a consistent daily routine.
• Prioritize your life, work, family and personal time and activities.
• Do six shoulder shrugs whenever you are tense.
• Realize that when people criticize and judge they are labeling an “image” of you and not you personally.
• Realize that you are worth so much more than the sum of your titles, money and belongings.

A good stress-relief program should be sought and followed. Good programs generally include various forms of meditation, visualization, qigong, yoga, acupressure and bio-feedback. Not all programs contain everything, but engaging in any or some of these will go a long way to reclaiming years for your life.

—Dr. Mark Wiley

http://www.personalliberty.com/perso…n-do-about-it/

02.22.10 07:01 PM

Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) announced last week that he will not seek re-election in November, and the media have been filled with speculations about his possible motives ever since.

Although Bayh officially stated that he was disillusioned with what he termed as a "dysfunctional" political system riddled with "brain-dead partisanship," and added that he had "no idea" what he would be doing next, many observers believe there may have been other reasons behind his decision.

In fact, the term "lobbyist" began appearing in post-announcement commentaries, as The Huffington Post pointed out that based on figures from the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen, a total of 43 percent of Congress members who retired between 1998 and 2004 registered as lobbyists.

One news website, called The Seminal, drew a link between the senator’s announcement and the decision of Billy Tauzin, the former Louisiana congressman who is the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry’s lobby group, to retire at the end of June.

The news provider stressed that until Tauzin’s announcement, Bayh’s campaign team and Capitol Hill staff apparently believed he was still on course to run for re-election.

Whatever he ends up doing next, Bayh—who prior to becoming senator in 1999, served as the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997—has reportedly ruled out running for the White House in 2012.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/…st-19624919-2/