PolifrogBlog

There is no free in liberty.


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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Cavuto on the Spawn of Bastardized Keynesian Theory...

polifrog


Over almost a century Bastardized Keynesian Theory has become the Wmap of public spending policy; it has become the dark energy behind our ever expanding national debt, and is at the heart of our current economic malaise.


Cavuto doesn't mention Keyens, but the connection is obvious.




Clowns to the left, clowns to the right
Swimming a sea of Theory
No land in sight.



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It's Miller Time In Alaska!

polifrog


Originality oozes in that title...

Murkowski Concedes.




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Sunday, August 29, 2010

From the Smile File...

polifrog


Or should that be from The Sad File,
Or Heath-Care Fail File,
Or Keynesian Fail File,
Or Failed Governance File,
Or Keynesian Folly File,

Or is it just what we see as we drive past our closed library.





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Hyperinflation -- The Loss of Faith in a Currency...

polifrog


Coming on the heels of Polifrog's previous post is a post by Ganzalo Lira in which he argues that hyperinflation was not just more inflation, but it is, at its root, a loss of faith in a currency. The piece below is a "hands on" description of the macroeconomic arguments he put forth in this previous post on the same topic. Read them both.

Gonzalo Lira:
What I do know is, One, a hyperinflationary event will happen, following the crash in Treasuries. Two, commodities will be the go-to medium for value storage. Three, all asset classes will collapse in short order. And Four—and most importantly—civil society will not collapse along with the dollar. Civil society will stumble about like a drunken sailor, but eventually right itself and carry on with a new normal.







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(Funding the Keynesian Folly) - The Fed's Frantic IRA/401(k) Money Grab...

polifrog

WorldNetDaily:
The Obama administration appears to be proceeding with a novel way of financing trillion-dollar budget deficits by forcing IRA and 401(k) holders to buy Treasury bonds by mandating the placement of government-structured annuities in their investment accounts.

The requirement to invest private retirement assets has been cleverly buried within plans to create "automatic IRAs" that would mandate employer groups enroll all employees in 401(k) or IRA plans.


At some point the Federal Reserve will have to replace the funding for Quantitative Easing. Currently dollars are simply created to buy treasuries from the US Government; inflationary. Eventually the financial support for US Treasuries will have to have a non inflationary source and it seems the preferred method when that point is reached is to force the public to purchase treasuries through the use of IRAs and 401k's. Voluntary support, it seems, is no longer adequate. Interestingly, Chile also embarked on private investment theft prior to their bout with hyperinflation.

So, in an effort to keep non inflationary demand up for US treasuries there has been a lot of consideration given to forcing individuals to purchase treasuries through their IRAs/401k's by way of forcing a percentage requirement of treasury investments in each portfolio. This is, of course, "for your own good."

But, treasuries have become a government created bubble. How can they not be a bubble when the Federal Reserve is little more than a shill for the US Government bidding treasury interest rates down and artificially keeping demand for treasuries high? The Federal Reserve is no different from my acting as a shill for my used car dealer employer at auto auctions. Whether it is me acting as a shill or the Federal Reserve acting as a shill we each distorted the market; we were each thieving money from buyers; in either case the act is dishonest. In each case the purchaser is getting screwed due to a distorted market that benefits the seller.

Get out of IRAs/401Ks. Avoid the Treasury bubble.

What do people think if this plan?

A survey conducted by the Investment Company Institute showed more than 70 percent of all households disagreed with the idea of requiring retirees to buy annuities with a portion of their assets, whether that annuity is offered by an insurance company or by the government.

Moreover, 96 percent of households in the Investment Company Institute survey responded that retirees rejected the idea that the government should mandate turning IRA or 401(k) assets into annuities, asserting instead that retirees should make their own decisions about managing retirement assets and income.

With numbers like that is there any doubt our current congress would ignore this opportunity to piss off Americans in an effort to fund their Keynesian Folly?



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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Obama -- Subordinating American Sovereignty to the Corruption of the United Nations...

polifrog


An American President Deconstructing America ... How did we get here?

How little does President Obama think of our nation that he feels compelled to include his administration's misguided legal challenge to the Arizona Immigration Law on a list of ways the federal government is protecting human rights to the United Nations?

As Governor Jan Brewer said:
The idea of our own American government submitting the duly enacted laws of a state of the United States to 'review' by the United Nations is internationalism run amok and unconstitutional.

She is correct.

American political power flows from God to the citizens to the politicians. Constitutionally there is no room for the United Nations. The United Nations has no authority within the boarders of the United States, therefore it is not only our boarders, but the idea of American National sovereignty and the Constitution that is under attack by this president.


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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Rep. Brad Miller -- Miller's Myopic Perspective on Our Economy Results in Ineffective Leadership...

polifrog


A willful ignorance:

NewsObserver.com

Miller said that if the Republicans regain control in Congress, they would turn control of the country back to Wall Street and banks and allow them to set the rules to satisfy their interests rather than those of the middle class.

"Their idea is to let the country be run from Wall Street," Miller said. "The financial crisis we had two years ago was a direct result of letting them [Wall Street] write their own rules."



What we have is a larger problem than Democrats or Conservatives; we have a Keynesian problem. Although each party points to Keynesian Theory for validation, what they really implement is Bastardized Keynesian Theory. Enticing the American public to take on debt so that they spend and keep the economy humming is Bastardized Keynesian Theory in practice. And loading debt through incentives on private citizens to stimulate the economy, although good for the Federal Balance book, leads to a citizenry unable to weather economic storms.

Brad Miller's statements above bely a willful ignorance of what has brought the US to what is quickly becoming a depression. Conveniently forgotten by Brad Miller is the fact that he and his party have incentivized "affordable homes" or "home ownership" through Fannie and Freddie and pressed interest rates down in an effort to put unaffordable loans in the hands of the people; all-the-while his party was pointing to Keynesian Theory for validation. With cheaper loans and lower interest rates many people spent beyond their means while others found a new ATM machine in their homes that was the equity in their home. With their new debt money in hand, they spent, and according the Keynesian Theory spending stimulates the economy. At least, that is what liberals thought.

Did Conservatives play a part? Yes. In that Brad Miller is correct. Like Brad Miller and his ilk Conservatives pointed to Keynesian Theory when they deregulated the financial industry. For Conservatives it was a way to put more money in people's pockets by making the loan industry more efficient and with more borrowed money in their pockets the people of America spent more. Unfortunately Conservatives had unwittingly set the Democrat debt dogs of incentivized lending loose on the American people.

Brad Miller's Myopic view of our economic malaise renders him unable to effectively lead us to prosperity. Could he ever turn his back on Bastardized Keynesian Theory?

Remember:
Over almost a century Bastardized Keynesian Theory has become the Wmap of public spending policy; it has become the dark energy behind our ever expanding national debt, and is at the heart of our current economic malaise.


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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Sen. Michael Bennet Repudiates Rep. Brad Miller's Mainstay, Bastardized Keynesian Theory?

polifrog




Sen. Michael Bennet’s repudiation of Bastardized Keynesian Theory?

NRO
Regarding spending during his time in office he said, “We have managed to acquire $13 trillion of debt on our balance sheet” and, “in my view we have nothing to show for it.

Doubtful.


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Monday, August 23, 2010

Breaking the Bank and Passing the Buck...

polifrog


Although President's have veto power, they do not define the national budget. Congress does that.

Just as Bill Clinton was defined as a fiscal genius after the 1994 conservative win , George Bush was defined as a budget breaker after the liberals took back congress and ran up the bills all-the-while pointing to the expense of Iraq nation building.

So far a poor dynamic for conservatives.






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Questioning Obama's Love of Country...

polifrog


Disillusioned by an illusion:

The Anchoress:
One of my husband’s friends–hated Bush, loved Obama and defended him vociferously for the first year, less passionately the second–told him over lunch this week that he’s done with Obama and “I never thought I’d say this but I miss Bush. We knew that he said what he meant, even if we didn’t want to hear it. We knew who he was, even if we didn’t like him. And we never had to wonder whether he liked us. He always did.”




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Friday, August 20, 2010

The Great Atlantic Garbage Patch Defined As an 8.5 Hour Nickle..

polifrog



The mystery is why anyone would use the term "garbage patch". With the aid of my mad math skills Polifrog has calculated that it would take nearly 8.5 hours of "net-tow" to return an amount of plastic equal to the weight of a nickel.

Yahoo

The term "garbage patch" does not necessarily mean a visible island of trash floating on the waves, researchers said. Only 62 percent of net tows by ships have contained detectable amounts of plastic.

"What we're collecting are really small fragments of plastic from larger consumer items," Lavender Law explained. "If you're on the deck of a ship, you normally can't even see the plastic pieces."

Each half-hour net tow typically turned up just 20 plastic pieces equivalent to about 0.3 grams in all. By comparison, a U.S. nickel weighs 5 grams.

The vast majority of plastic pieces caught in the net turned out smaller than 10 millimeters, Lavendar Law said.

Alarmism!




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Rep Brad Miller's Moral Relativism vs. Bill Randall and The Positive Influence of Principles on Governance....

polifrog



Bill Randall has mounted a campaign based on principles stemming from religion, the Constitution, and morality.

Frequently the preacher within Bill Randall emerges on the campaign trail when referencing The Ten Commandments. Just as often his respect for the words within the Constitution as they are written, as well as the ideals enshrined within those words, become vivid talking points for Randall. The Randall Campaign has embraced these two and produced an appealing morality all too often absent in modern politics. As important as the morality though, is the fact that they are principles, a yard stick, by which one can measure Bill Randall's actions against and if elected, his political leadership.

The positive results of this were on display during the primaries between Bernie Reeves and Bill Randall. Although, Reeves and Randall agreed on much, there were a handful of points on which they parted.

One of these was the sudden and unfortunate BP disaster in the Gulf. Prior to the BP gusher Randall and Reeves were indistinguishable from one another on the topic of oil drilling. Drill here, drill now. That ended with the threat of oil inundating the NC coast. Bernie Reeves' position conveniently shifted from pro drilling to no drilling. Bill Randall, on the other hand, stuck to principle; continued his pro drilling stance and despite his muddled government/BP collusion press conference won the primaries.

That is not to say Bill Randall's pro drilling stance won the primaries for him, but it is to say that the episode helped to define Randall as a man of principle who, when confronted with a politically expedient choice, chose principle. Many conservative voters battered with the disappointment that was the listless conservative congress under the first 6 years of Bush found Bill Randall's reliance on principle refreshing. Conversely, Bernie Reeves seemed imbued with the odor of the stale unprincipled conservatism of the Bush years.

In truth, Bernie Reeves got caught on the wrong side of Conservative Party history. The Conservative Party is being rewritten before all our eyes with something more powerful than Newt Gingrich's Contract With America, but Reeves missed it. The party is being reformulated through an injection of Tea Party morality based on fundamental principals that candidates are expected to govern by. Where the Contract With America had a half-life (it came to an end when its to-do list was completed), Tea Party morality is as permanent as the Tea Party movement. The Tea Party is in its essence a repudiation of moral relativism seeping into the Conservative Party and gives voters that essential yardstick by which to judge a politician's performance. This will prove more effective than Newt's Contract With America.

And this is one of Brad Miller's primary difficulties come this November 2. This election comes at a time when Americans are coming to the conclusion that they elected an illusion to the presidency and in return they received disillusion. Currently many Americans question their president's religion. They question... who is this man? National politics is normally just background when electing representatives. Not this year.

When North Carolinians go to the polls this November, will they be comfortable with a moral relativist like Brad Miller? He is a man who believes, on the one hand, that a woman's right to choose supersedes her child's right to live and her right to choose extends to the moments before her child's birth, while, on the other hand, he supports removing all our health-care choices through ObamaCare. The conflict does not stop there; Brad Miller claims to be guided by lessons learned from his church. Clearly Brad Miller must separate the act of governance from his biblical guidance, and if that is so he is not guided by Christian belief.

Not only is Brad Miller not guided by biblical teachings, but he does not seem to rely on Constitutional text either. Where does he find the Constitutional right to force anyone to purchase anything through ObamaCare? Does he not see that ObamaCare conflicts with the tenth amendment? How does he divine a right of privacy that allows a woman to choose to kill her own child, while at the very same time he ignores the obvious wording of the second amendment? Where does he find a limitation on free political speech through incorporation? None of these interpretations are in our Constitution.

Yet these interpretations of our Constitution are no different than the those that allowed the atrocity of slavery to exist within America. Politicians like Brad Miller who are willing to interpret Constitutional "rights" such as infanticide in and out of existence are worse than their slave rationalizing brethren. At least slaves got life.

Brad Miller can point to neither The Ten Commandments nor can he point to The Constitution as a moral anchors. Brad Miller has no principles; he has no morality by which he can be judged. And when the North Carolina electorate visits the polls, will they be keen to reelect a politician (Brad Miller) who has no moral yardstick by which to gauge his performance?

No. North Carolina is ready for a political cleansing.




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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Find Your Anger ... Preserve Our Liberty

polifrog



Once again, Via Randy'sRight



Find Your Anger,
Preserve Our Liberty


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Boiling a Frog

polifrog



At some point, when it's too late ... the water boils:

Washington Rebel:
They have already taken your freedom, your rights. The Constitution has been mutilated by court rulings and bench amendments to the point where it really means nothing. Listen, when a penumbraed right, a thing that doesn't even exist except in the shadows of other words, can allow for the killing of unborn children, but the clear, concise wording of the Second Amendment can not be relied upon to secure your right to keep and bear arms, you have been duped. The Congress doesn't even refer to the Constitution when making laws and doesn't much care whether they have the authority or not. Might makes right and they have the might.

You have to realize that you can not be the hero. There are none in this fight, because you are fighting the authorities. When the signatories of the Declaration of Independence made their mark, they had committed crimes and were hunted as criminals. Everything you might do to secure the blessings of liberty to yourself and your posterity will, by definition, be a crime. This is not a game. I don't care what you do to regain your freedom, you can write, you can protest, you can form groups, you can make pledges and promises, but don't look for support from the people on the train. You are a threat to their blissful scenery. To hide from the truth they will call you a racist, a homophobe, a domestic terrorist, a criminal, a tax cheat. They don't care what is true, they just want you to let them sleep.

This frog is a hoppin'...

polifrog



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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Kay Hagan Handled By a Mom With Dignity

polifrog


Although Hagan was seriously manhandled she's got more balls than Rep. in hiding Brad Miller.

Obamacare is a looser





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Rep. Brad Miller-- Comments On the WTC Mosque...

polifrog



Miller said:
"I think issuing a building permit in Manhattan doesn't have a whole lot to do with North Carolina," Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., said.

Its just a building permit issue ... Leadership?

Polifrog's thoughts were a bit more colorful.



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Rep.Brad Miller -- And His Implementation of Bastardized Keynesian Theory...

polifrog



Over almost a century Bastardized Keynesian Theory has become the Wmap of public spending policy; it has become the dark energy behind our ever expanding national debt, and is at the heart of our current economic malaise.

Politicians of both parties point to Keynesian Theory as validation for their spending policies and each claim an investment return on these debt funded policies. This occurs locally, on the state level, and nationally. Has there been a spending project on any of these levels of governance that the proponents of which have not pointed to the investment benefits of as justification for their spending? Whether it is a trolley across a mile and a half of Charlotte NC or high speed rail lines across states, they argue it means jobs and dollars that, as Brad Miller states "ripple across the economy". Conservatives and Liberals are both guilty. Conservatives spent like drunken sailors under 6 years of Bush, but not to be out done, liberals subsequently spent like crack addicted junkies. All the while, each party argued that they were "investing" Keynesian style.

As an example of this point Polifog points to the video of a discussion with two North Carolina Congressmen. Rep. Patrick McHenry and Rep. Brad Miller earlier this year via Bloomburg. The discussion begins at around 50sec. in:



Brad Miller argues, "When you spend money it ripples through the economy....That's textbook economics. That's the whole idea behind the plan." The "textbook" Brad Miller is pointing to is Keynesian Theory but what is being implemented is a Bastardization of Keynesian Theory. In operation Bastardized Keynesian Theory is used to argue for spending throughout the economic cycle meaning we entered this downturn riddled with debt. Keynesian Theory and the Bastardized Keynesian Theory implemented are not the same as Brad Miller seems to think.

Patrick McHenry argues: "What I want to have is real small-business tax relief." This argument has Keynesian elements as Brad Miller pointed out in response, but that is because McHenry made only half the argument. Tax relief becomes Bastardized Keynesian Theory if it comes at the expense of increased debt.

We have to recognize the dire situation we face concerning our national debt. Currently our Federal Reserve is purchasing our own national debt in much the same way a shill is used to influence auction prices. This is a screaming sign that that source of funding is beyond tapped.

But Brad Miller is locked in a Keynesian mindset that ignores the awful effects of the implementation of Bastardized Keynesian Theory. Miller's argument is unable to rely on cuts in government spending to pay for his plan as it defeats the plan's original purpose. As a result Brad Miller's argument relies solely on increased debt for funding as there is no alternative. This is the reason Democrats and Brad Miller are unable to live up to their Pay-Go promises again and again and again.

Patrick McHenry's argument that, "What I want to have is real small-business tax relief," did not specify funding. Brad Miller rightly labeled the argument as Keynesian as he assumed it would be funded out of debt. Had McHenry completed the argument with a source of funding such as shrinking government, he would have had something classically non Keynesian that would have been a path out of our current economic difficulties.

The point is that, although Keynesian Theory allowed for government debt spending during economic downturns to, as Brad Miller put it, "prime the pump," it does not allow for government debt spending throughout the economic cycle (Bastardized Keynesian Theory). As a result our debt pocket is empty when needed most.

We have only one place to turn. Tax cuts to stimulate the economy (as Brad Miller argues they do) that are payed for with reductions in government across the board; equal opportunity slashing. No program should be more equal than the other.

And finally a repudiation of Bastardized Keynesian Theory and Brad Miller - A Keynesian sock puppet.


End of part 1
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Polifrog On the Muslim Mosque at Ground Zero and False Claims of Religion...

polifrog


There was scene in The Green Mile in which the Tom Hanks character (Paul Edgecomb) was enlightened by the Michael Clarke Duncan character (John Coffey) as to how the murder of two children occurred. It was disturbing.

John Coffey summed it up with "He killed them with they love."

An invading army, no matter what religion it wears, should not be afforded constitutional rights. That is not to say all of Islam is an invading army not worthy of freedom of religion, but it is to say that those elements of Islam that are in reality an invading force should be treated as an invading force. We can not allow attacks on the United States to be cloaked in religion.

The left falsely viewed and still views Christianity as a threat and what have they done with the Christian tradition in the US, but marginalize it. The left, however, refuses to do the same to the extremists within Islam.

Why is it that the left feels some religions are more equal than others?

But, more importantly...

Should we allow fanatics to attack us with our own Constitution?




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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Bill Randall Speaking on Truth, Corruption, Morality, Illegal Immigration, and Fundamental Principles....

polifrog



This is the best Bill Randall speech to this point. Polifrog contends that Bill Randall's campaign centered on Fundamental Principles will carry him far; this will be the topic of a future post. Until then ....... enjoy Bill Randall:

Via Randy'sRight










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Rep. Brad Miller -- Hampers Economic Recovery By Allowing Continued Mark-to-Fantasy...

polifrog

What is mark-to-fantasy?

On a personal level it is pretending and telling the world your house is worth what it was 2 years ago rather than realizing the loss and facing the reality that you lost 10% of you home's value. Accepting the value as what your home will sell for on the market today is called marking the value of your home to the market (mark to market). To do otherwise is to mark the value of your home to what ever fantasy number you pick (mark to fantasy).

Brad Miller and his ilk are allowing the banks to pretend their assets are valued at what they were 2 years ago. Remember that when you see a bank post profits. And remember that you as an individual would never be allowed to do the same. Some of us are more equal than others as far as Brad Miller is concerned.

Strategies like this do not allow nations to move forward from financial dislocation. The hit has to be taken.


Bill Black had this to say on the topic:

“…It also means we are following a Japanese type strategy of hiding the losses and we know what that produces - a lost decade, which is now two lost decades. Your listeners and viewers if they are stock types, look at the Nikkei. It lost 75% in nominal terms and has stayed that way for 20 years. I real terms it lost 85% of its value. This is a really stupid strategy. And it's ours.”



Video at the link.




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An Apology to Brad Miller From Polifrog....

polifrog

Polifrog issues a correction and makes an apology to Brad Miller.



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Bill Randall -- On Immagration --

polifrog


Bill Randall spoke on immigration at the Armed Restore the Constitution Rally yesterday. Via AmericanElephant:





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Rep. Brad Miller is Selling The Brooklyn Bridge In the New York Times-- You Buying? (Shilled for by Gretchen Morgenson)....

polifrog


Unsurprisingly our high brow NC Representative, Brad Miller, has a shill at the New York Times, one that likely thinks herself "quite adroit" in her choice of titles, In This Play, One Role Is Enough. Polifrog finds the amalgamation of the NYT, and Brad Miller just another example of a campaign of privilege and Miller elitism.

Morgenson described Miller this way:

...a Democratic representative from North Carolina who was elected to Congress in 2002, talks straight and understands how big banks can put consumers at peril.
From nearly the first lines we are told by the NYT that Brad Miller is "your man" and that whatever follows is NOT HIS FAULT. Yet where was his vaunted understanding of banking and housing prior to the near depression we have been experiencing? Brad Miller's mealy mouthed answer is found later in the article:

A member of the House Financial Services Committee, Mr. Miller concedes that he did not see the financial crisis coming. But he said that several years ago he became aware that increasingly poisonous mortgages were being peddled to consumers.

Are these the sentiments of a leader or just a man doing the two-step with responsibility?

The reality?

What was being peddled was not only that home ownership at any cost was a proper role for government but that home ownership through the enticement of inexpensive debt was the path to that end. The fact that the mortgage industry responded to the government's push to lend to riskier and riskier individuals seems to be lost on Brad Miller.

Has an election passed in which a politician has not uttered the terms "home ownership" or used the phrase "affordable homes"? Over the years the phrases became an election mainstay, but it wasn't just election rhetoric politicians were enticing the voters with, it was the danger of cheap debt . Being lawmakers, the politicians had tools at their disposal to make good on their campaign promises of "affordable homes", promises we still hear from Brad Miller today.

They used their influence over Fannie and Freddie Mac as qasi-public companies beholden to government to enlarge the pool of dollars available for lending. They found that they could influence Fannie and Freddie to purchase increasingly riskier loans from banks thereby freeing those same banks to make more loans. And, of course, congress could and did create laws that forced lending institutions to make loans under threat of red lining, to individuals they may have otherwise turned down as a high risk. Over time even the Federal Reserve got in on the game and lowered interest rates through the Federal Fund discount rates. The fact is that the lending industry did what they were asked to do by our leaders in DC and when the industry used nefarious methods to get the job done, government turned a blind eye. This the result of the collusion of government and industry,each with like-minded goals.

This Government intervention in housing market for the laudable goal of "home ownership" resulted in a mega bubble that, like all bubbles, popped. Although the current downturn began in the sub-prime mortgage market, it spread across a loan industry weakened with the risky debt holders forced upon it by DC. and others who stretched themselves thinly to take advantage of the "cheap home loans". Since then our country has been careening toward a near depression.

What is Brad Miller's solution now? Bolt tweaking on failed government policy.

Enter Mr. Miller’s bill, the Mortgage Servicing Conflict of Interest Elimination Act. It bars servicers of first loans they do not own from holding any other mortgages on the same property.


If you think this is a solution for anything but Brad Miller's need for electioneering before an election, Polifrog has some prime swampland in eastern NC to sell you.

Government intervention in the economy has consequences but under this congress and the leadership of Brad Miller, the buck stops everywhere but their desks. And before you buy Miller's Brooklyn Bridge built on shifting blame, ask yourself if a true leader with all of the much referenced qualifications of Brad Miller would have lead this nation into our current financial malaise.


Update:
A comment in response to the above post reposted as a comment at edcone.com from Andrew Brod took Polifrog's thoughts on Brad Miller's ineffective governance down an unexplored avenue.

Andrew Brod:

This Government intervention in housing market for the laudable goal of "home ownership"...

Redefining an era of financial-market deregulation as "government intervention" is laughable and not worthy of a frog.


Polifrog:

Deregulation and government intervention are not mutually exclusive.

Deregulation of the financial industry so that the financial institutions could more easily implement government pushed programs of "home ownership" or "affordable homes" (pick your happy feel-good terms for debt slavery) was simply a means to an end. When governance chooses to incentivize debt even the hurdles it created in the interest of economic safety (regulation) fall away.

When was the last time you heard the government say, or more importantly suggest through law, that saving rather than spending is a positive direction for our nation?

We have been living through a movement in which both parties were in agreement, a movement that was larger than simple regulation.

Spend, spend, spend, it's good for the economy, spend, spend. Debt is good because it allows more spending. Regulations inhibit spending so eliminate them. Spend, spend.

This has been Keynesian Economics uncontrolled. There was a saving side to that Keynesian thing, but it was forgotten as it was of little interest to the power-hungry.

polifrog




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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Brad Miller's Indentured Servitude Of Individuals, Of States, and Of Our Nation....

polifrog


Update:
Polifrog apologizes for prematurely posting the following as a rough draft. Accidents happen.


The cast system of perpetual government assistance created by liberal logic didn't stop with classes of individuals enticed toward a cycle of poverty. Currently it is metastasizing into a similar system of state indentured servitude to the federal government in part due to North Carolina's growing debt and dependency on federal assistance due to that debt.

NC has, to a large degree, become a dependent state due to our state's Pavlov like votes for Brad Miller, a politician who pushes bills through congress that "help" states that spend more than they take in. This "help" does not serve the long term interests of the states, though. A state, like an individual or spoiled child, will never learn fiscal discipline if the negative results of their profligate sending is never felt. This liberal feel good legislation dooms these states to more spending and dependency on the federal government for new rounds of bailouts. Of course, with dependency comes federal manipulation of state affairs and further dissolution of our federal system. Texas recently gave the federal government the bird due to these polices. Good for Texas. NC's delegation of panty-wastes leaders could never muster the strength to do the same.

Not only does Brad Miller put today's citizens further into debt, but he supports legislation that creates debt in perpetuity for generations to come. Brad Miller put 1/6 of NC' s economy under federal control and is forcing the unborn generations who survive Miller's abortion killing fields to foot the our bills for those who don't make it to birth. The results of this combination of excessive government spending combined with a scourge of abortions can be witnessed today in a Europe that has grown dependent on culturally insensitive Muslim immigration to keep their populations from collapsing. The Europe we know today, the source of western civilization, is dying due to liberal ideology.

It is not just Brad Miller that supports NC dependency. NC has become an indentured state by giving its support to Bev Perdue as well, a politician who gladly accepts federal funding. These handouts are often required to be used on new spending only. This creates a new baseline for next year's spending when there is no federal handout. This further pushes NC toward insolvency and dependency by growing next year's budget with this year's spending. Brad Miller helps with the creation and passage of such bills in congress and Bev Perdue gladly signs our state into Brad Miller supported indentured servitude to the federal government. According to LincolnTibune:

The implications of the 2010-11 state budget will be felt heavily next year. By relying on more than $1.5 billion of non-recurring federal stimulus funds and $1.3 billion in temporary tax revenue to help balance the 2010-11 budget, North Carolina lawmakers and Gov. Perdue are setting up North Carolina for a major state budgetary crisis in 2011-12. Absent those two significant sources of funding, state budget writers will be facing a revenue hole of $2.8 billion when they reconvene next year to craft the 2011-12 state budget.


The national implication of this liberal reliance on dependency and debt can seen starkly on the graphs below. Obama supporting states have twice the debt per capita debt than the non Obama voting states.

According to Moody’s, the average state per capita debt of the 28 Obama states is $1,728 while the average debt in the 22 McCain states is less than half, at $749. This information alone says a lot about voters and their attitude towards government and debt. Voters with a propensity to elect politicians who burden future generations who can’t yet vote with huge debts voted for Obama while fiscally responsible voters generally voted for McCain.



Although states can turn to the Federal Government for relief, our national government has only nations outside our boarders to support its debt. This national reliance on debt to fund government growth increases our dependence on unreliable international sources and calls into question our future as a nation. Brad Miller, Bev Perdue and other of their ilk are forcing unborn generations of Americans who survive the gauntlet of Brad Miller's Congressional supported abortions into a nation with a questionable future.



[edited for clarity]
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Armed Restore the Constitution Rally -- Today

polifrog


A reminder:

There will be an Armed Restore the Constitution Rally today at Guilford Courthouse Battleground National Park from 1pm - 4pm.

Here is the Promotional Flyer.


Look for Rep. Brad Miller to show his support for our limited constitutional republic with his presence. Yeah, right.




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Friday, August 13, 2010

Ayn Rand Super Fan Writes With Big Love ....

polifrog

One man drove 12,238 miles across 30 states to scrawl a message that can only be viewed using Google Earth. His big shoutout: “Read Ayn Rand.”



Polifrog read her novels The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged during high school but only as novels and not as social commentary. Polifrog still has the same novels and they deserve a reread under the current political crises.

We Should All Be Fans.



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Bill Randall / Brad Miller Campaign Signs Planted....

polifrog




It's planting time:



A first for Polifrog.






On a major highway entering and
exiting Eden. HWY 87.






OSB ------------------- $6.00
3 2x4 -----------------$6.00
White paint -----------$4.00
Black paint -----------$2.00
Caulk For OSB edges--$1.00

Total ------------------$20.00 (approx.)

What is a campaign without signs.


If you are interested in making a statement with a similar homegrown grass roots sign and live on a major road with traffic into and out of a town within the NC-13 district contact Polifrog. (Email address is at the top of the page) Polifrog is donating his time and sweat to this effort but is unable to afford the cost of supplies.



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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Rick Santelli -- On the Federal (Shill's) Reserve's Race Toward Argentina.....

polifrog


Coming on the heels of this post by Polifrog describing his (and the Federal Reserves) poor shilling abilities last night comes the video below via randysright.







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Rep. Brad Miller -- Townhalls? Campaign Schedules? Communicate With Constituents?-Don't Be So Droll....

polifrog



Update: The following cropped images came from these complete screen-grabs.
Correction: Polifrog erred in the accusation that Brad Miller did not update his press releases. Polifrog sincerely apologizes to Brad Miller. Corrected.

Politicians running traditional campaigns publicize their campaign schedule so as to meet their constituency, to glad hand and kiss babies. The lack of printed ink concerning Brad Miller's campaign schedule, though, stirred Polifrog's curiosity.

To that end, it seemed rational to visit Brad Miller's campaign site in an effort to find his campaign schedule. After rooting around and finding nothing Polifrog turned to the search feature offered within Brad Miller's campaign site.

Setting the search feature to search the whole site Polifrog began by with "town hall" ... nothing:


OK, how about "townhall"...nothing:

Perhaps "town-hall" ... still nothing:


At this point Polifrog changed to a new term, "campaign schedule" .... nothing:


Surely altering the term searched to "schedule" would yield something .... nope, nothing:



These results show a politician with no interest in meeting his constituents. Why even communicate with them?

Brad Miller -- Embracing distance from the common man.
He's not your parent's Democrat.




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Rep. Brad Miller -- Another Stop in His Stealth Campaign...

polifrog


Brad Miller made another stop in his stealth campaign, a campaign that does not give his supporters or his detractors a schedule. Yet, somehow the press does manage to arrive and "report" on Brad Miller's "round table" while you are not invited to see anything more than a press distribution of the event.

Below is yet another article reciting Brad Miller campaign topics while utterly ignoring salient topics unmentioned by Brad Miller.

Via TheTimesNews.com
Workers lacking in marketable skills, an ongoing continuing lending crunch and mortgage crisis and rising health care costs are conspiring to keep the economy tough and joblessness high.

That was the consensus of a round table discussion on jobs and the economy Wednesday at the Women's Resource Center in Burlington.


Resource board members and others gathered to speak with 13th District Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat who represents a northeastern and central swath of Alamance County.


  • Did the reporter question where workers with "marketable skills" would get a job?
  • Did the reporter question why Brad Miller is pushing more home/business loans on a state already flooded housing inventory?
  • Did the reporter ask why ObamaCare is raising the cost of health-care when it was intended to lower it?
  • Was Brad Miller challenged at any point?

The answer is "NO" to all these questions.

This is how Brad Miller's stealth campaign works. Schedule a visit that is secret only to the public so as to avoid protesters and let a sycophantic press report Brad Miller's Campaign points. This is, of course called a "round table" and not a campaign event despite the fact that these events only began to occur in the last couple of weeks.

Then for good measure have Pharmacy Choice (surely no connection Brad Miller's support for ObamaCare there) republish the same article above that was published by TheTimesNews.com so as to spread Brad Miller's campaign points and more importantly the image of a campaign.

Brad Miller is conducting a campaign in appearance only in an attempt to avoid meeting with his constituents. Where are the town halls? Where is Brad Miller's Campaign schedule? Where is the man of the people?

Brad Miller - Elitist - Not your parent's Democrat.




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Rep. Brad Miller When Asked For Town Hall Schedule --- Uhhhh, Hmmm, Uhhhh...

polifrog


With less than 3 months between now and the November Elections Carolina Journal asked NC Representatives their plans concerning this year's round of Town Halls.

At press time, the recess plans of Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, Mike McIntyre, D-7th, Larry Kissell, D-8th, and Miller remained unclear. They did not respond to requests for their public schedules.
[emphasis added]

This noncommittal answer combined with Brad Miller's random and rambling response to Carolina Journal's previous questions regarding the upcoming lame-duck congress leads Polifrog to ruminate on the strength of the Brad Miller Campaign.

Brad Miller has held a seat in a safe Democrat district since the early 2000's resulting in his not having had to contend with a difficult campaign even once. This year, though, he is on the wrong side of popular sentiment. This lack of public support in conjunction with Miller's lack of experience in running a campaign during what may be a difficult race leads Polifrog to wonder if Brad Miller is capable of mounting an effective campaign this season.

Brad Miller May be far weaker than thought.

Brad Miller's recent answers to Carolina Journal's questions and his campaign stops designed to avoid frustrated voters certainly leads to such a conclusion.




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Molon Labe! Lt. Col. Alen West On Liberty and A Constitutional Republic...

polifrog


When the Political Class accuses candidates rooted in liberty and the tenants of our constitutional republic of extremism, the Political Class is lost to self serving rot.




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The Federal Reserve Shills For the Central Bank and We All Pay...

polifrog


Polifrog lost a year and a half of his time on Earth (valuable years in his 20s) working for a used car dealer. Despite the sense of loss, there were lessons learned.

One such lesson was on shilling.

Dealers don't just sell their cars on their lot; a large percentage are sold at auction. It was at one of these auctions that Polifrog was surprised by his employer's request that he be a shill. Apparently the cars that had been flowing through the stalls were bringing poor high bids so he gave me a secret sign to look for as an indication to stop my bidding and sent me to the floor to bid on his cars as they flowed through. Polfirog was a poor shill and the request was not made again. Apparently auction houses reprimand dealers in some fashion when the dealers are caught distorting the market.

Polifrog was bothered by the experience as it was dishonest. The dishonesty was in the fact that shilling subverts the attempt to find a natural real market fair price for the cars. It was theft.

The recent announcement by the Federal Reserve that they would once again buy Gov. debt caused Polifrog's lackluster experience as a shill to resurface from the darkness of lost memory.


It was, in this article Polifrog read that the Federal Reserve was going to enter another round of Quantitative Easing and what follows is similar to what played out in Polifrog's muddled thoughts while reading the article.


So the Central Bank tries to auction some of its cars (sorry treasuries), to finance more federal spending, but there aren't enough buyers with enough money so they have to sweeten the product with some new paint.. sorry, they raise the interest rate on the treasuries they offer.

But the government says "no," to higher interest rates (fresh paint) because (1) they have a lot of debt that needs servicing and higher interest rates make that expensive, and (2), they want to keep home interest rates low to spur the economy.

But how to do that? "No problem," says the Government we can use the Federal Reserve (shill) to act as a deep pocketed investor interested in our treasuries (cars). This will keep interest rates on the treasuries and home loans down.

Voila! A distorted market with abnormally low rates of return on treasuries, the kind of stuff grandma depends on and abnormally low interest rates on home loans.

The problem is that it is theft whether a dealer does it or the Federal Reserve. It is the productive people in this country from which the Federal Reserve steals the money with which it plays a shill for the Central Bank. The theft comes as inflated dollars for us all.

Polifrog believes all the dollars that have flowed into the economy through this dance will be much harder and expensive to remove after the inflation it creates arrives.





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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Rep. Brad Miller as Reported by GoDanRiver's Lies of Omission....

polifrog



Brad Miller was in Reidsville NC. campaigning this past Monday. This was not a well publicized visit as it seems that Brad Miller is attempting to avoid the images of anti Brad Miller sentiment being caught on film. Polifrog believes Brad Miller's strategy is to simply have his sycophantic media report on unannounced stealth campaign stops and campaign messages after they occur. No messy protests that way.

So far Brad Miller seems to have chosen what appears to be a campaign by way of news print and media reportage after the fact, but is a campaign stop not normally promoted before its occurrence so that supporters can, you know, be there? Is this really a campaign or just the illusion of one?

GoDanRiver reported on Brad Miller's aforementioned Monday visit to Reidsville (that We The People knew nothing about but GoDanRiver magically did) and made a point of reporting only what was said by Brad Miller while assiduously avoiding spilling any ink on what Brad Miller omitted.

Go Dan River-Reporting is brought to you with lies of omission.

Polifrog added in the comments section:

Distortions of news are created not just through misrepresentation, (not the case here) but the omission of salient facts such as:

  • Did Brad Miller mention his support for ObamaCare?
  • Did Brad Miller explain his lack of support for the free political speech of two individuals through the use of incorporation?
  • Did Brad Miller explain why he supports pushing home loans and building loans to contractors (home ownership in Miller speak) when we are already suffering an oversupply of homes?
  • Did Brad Miller discuss his resistance to laws that forbade partial-birth-abortion?
  • Did Brad Miller explain why he does not want parents notified if their under aged daughter is transported across state lines for an abortion?
  • Did Brad Miller explain his lack of support to change DC gun laws after the Supreme Court found them unconstitutional?
  • Did Brad Miller explain why he felt it necessary not to protect gun companies and American jobs from frivolous lawsuits?
  • Did Brad Miller explain his lack of support for constitutional values as expressed in his lack of support for free speech as defined by the Supreme Court, as expressed in his lack of support for the Second Amendment rights of DC residents, in his lack of support for the individuals right to choose one's health-care?


Much of what is mentioned in this comment is current and could have easily found its way into an objective article that does more than simply parrot Brad Miller stump speeches.


Brad Miller--Not your parent's Democrat.



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Katrina Vanden Heuvel -- Distorting the Role of Politics in ObamaCare...

polifrog



Katrina Vanden Heuvel echos Ann Woolner's argument that the efforts to derail ObamaCare are political in nature.

Woolner was quoted:
“It’s about politics,” Woolner argues. “It’s so obviously about politics that most folks take that fact for granted. These cases are another way for Republicans to try to defeat a Democratic initiative and score points while doing it.”
and Heuvel adds:

The frightening thing here is not that Republicans are so hell-bent on denying basic health care to fellow citizens. Rather, it’s that Woolner is able to write, matter-of-factly, that most people see the politicization of health care as something to take for granted.

Heuvel's surprise "that most people see the politicization of health care as something to take for granted," is odd considering that it is ObamaCare that inserts politics into heath-care. It is those who defend liberty that are attempting to remove the source of Heuvel's much lamented politicization.

And on the source of Heuvel's point, Woolner's argument that "these cases are another way for Republicans to try to defeat a Democratic initiative and score points while doing it," thus "it’s about politics," is an argument so far removed from reason that not only does Woolner ignore the source of the politicization of health-care...ObamaCare, but she ignores which way the political power flows when arguing for and against ObamaCare.

Those who argue in favor of ObamaCare argue for the consolidation of the power and influence of the health-care industry in the hands of the political elite, while those who oppose ObamaCare argue for the power of the health-care industry to remain in the private world of individual liberty. This argument to disperse the power of the health-care industry across the hundreds of millions of citizens who make up this country does not funnel power into the hands of the political elite and therefor these arguments are not political in nature. Arguments that funnel power toward the political elite are always political. Arguments that funnel power to the people and away from the elite are always based on liberty.

Woolner and Huevel are so far removed from reality as to not realize that they have become "The Man" (in 60's parlance), and as such, they now have in their corner not only the political elite they joined, but the renunciation of reason and liberty in a desire to grow "The Man"... currently known as ObamaCare.




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NC. Gov Bev Perdue Polls Plummets 15% in 2 Months Among Dems-- Lowering Job Prospects Through Corporate Theft from Alcoa....

polifrog



According to a recent Civitas poll Bev Perdue's poor polling numbers are a result of liberal Democrat spending policies and scandal.

According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 40 percent of Democratic voters now have a favorable opinion of Perdue while 28 percent view her unfavorably. Meanwhile, the majority of Republicans continue to hold an unfavorable view of Perdue (23 percent-51 percent). Unaffiliated voters’ opinions are split at a 36-36 percent margin of favorably.

“As we saw last year, it seems that whenever Perdue signs the state budget, her numbers take a hit, especially with the members of her base Democratic voters,” said Civitas Institute Senior Legislative Analyst Chris Hayes. “The scandals within the Highway Patrol seem to be taking their toll on her favorable ratings as well.”


Failed Keynesian Economics can be a hard sale when the citizenry is hold their wallets shut while watching their leaders blow through their tax dollars with ever increasing raises and benefits for bureaucrats.

It is, of course, interesting to see Bev Perdue attempt to take credit for nearly every job created in the private sector brought in through bribes. Not a day goes by that Polifrog fails to see articles such as this from NewObsever.com which parrots Bev Perdue's office:

Ethan Allen plans to expand production at its furniture factory in Western North Carolina and add 90 jobs.

The factory in Old Fort, just east of Asheville, makes dining and bedroom sets and other products.

The new jobs will pay average annual salaries of $26,645, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced. That's less than the McDowell County average of $27,768. State officials promised the company a grant worth up to $270,000 if it meets its hiring goals.

and others such as this, and this, and this, and this, etc... -- Propaganda. State sponsored, tax payer funded propaganda.

Is it only Polifrog that wonders why "incentives" must be funneled through the inefficiencies of governance? Would it not be fairer, more honest, and efficient if the corporate taxes that have been levied over the decades were lowered or removed entirely in an effort to create massive desire for corporations to locate in NC.

Perhaps easiest way to lure corporations to the state would be to not attempt to steal their assets as in the case with Alcoa's dams:

Gov. Bev Perdue's administration has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject Alcoa's request for a renewal of its license to continue operating the power plants. Perdue wants the commission to rule against Alcoa so that, for the first time in the history of federal power law, North Carolina can recapture the generating facilities from Alcoa.

If I ran a corporation, I would not locate in a state that has a history of setting precedence in favor of the theft of private assists.

Of course, corporations bring jobs, not Bev Purdue.



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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Gubernatorial Polls Indicate Strong Anti Liberal Political Sentiment...

polifrog


The result of governance through Broken Consent.

Via Rasmussen
Voters will elect governors in 37 states this November. Nineteen of those governorships are now held by Democrats, while Republicans sit in the governor's chair in 18 of the states. The Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard shows Democrats solidly ahead in three states, with three more leaning their way. Republicans are running strongly in 14 states, and four more are leaning GOP. Thirteen states are currently viewed as Toss-Ups, including California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.
[emphasis added]


Solid Dem
Lean Dem
Toss-Up
Lean GOP
Solid GOP

Hawaii

Arkansas

California

Maine

Alabama

New Hampshire

Connecticut

Colorado

Michigan

Alaska

New York

Massachusetts

Florida

Nevada

Arizona



Georgia

Pennsylvania

Idaho



Illinois


Iowa



Maryland


Kansas



Minnesota


Nebraska



New Mexico


Oklahoma



Ohio


South Carolina



Oregon


South Dakota



Rhode Island


Tennessee



Vermont


Texas



Wisconsin


Utah





Wyoming







"I can see November from my house."


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NC Board of Governors Forces Students to Buy Health-Care Including Elective Abortions...

polifrog


Oh what ObamaCare has wrought. Suddenly bureaucrats feel justified in forcing individuals to engage in commerce beyond their scope of interest.

And Polifrog thought school enrollment fees were onerous enough, now they pile on more...

Via studentsforlife.org:

Students for Life of America has discovered that this fall the North Carolina Board of Governors is requiring all students who are enrolled in a University of North Carolina public institution to have health insurance.

Students who do not already have private health insurance are required to buy a state selected policy from Pearce & Pearce, Inc. This mandated policy covers up to $500 toward elective abortions and has 80% PPO coverage for elective abortions.

The Pearce & Pearce policy costs students $744 per year or $375 per semester. The State of North Carolina will not be paying into the policy; rather, the students who are required to purchase the insurance will be required to pay the entire cost.

As a result, North Carolina students will be forced to pay for elective abortions, regardless of their personal views on the issue.




On what grounds does the NC Board of Governors have the authority to force adults in the college system to buy health-care? By what distortion of reality do they feel forcing individuals to pay for the murder of children is within their purview or even within the realm of moral?

As a former student of UNC-CH Polifrog has had a hate-hate relationship with the UNC administration, so this should come as no surprise to Polifrog, but it does.

During Polifrog's stint in Chapel Hill tuition per semester was roughly $750(tuition only). Now the administration requires nearly that amount over the span of a year for a product wholly unrelated to education. The Board of Governors is forcing a whole generation into school loan servitude with their tin ear to cost and lack of respect for liberty and personal choice.

One can only hope a quick back-down on this policy is forthcoming.



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