WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED This is the true memoir of one US Air Force navigator’s journey from the schoolhouses of Air Training Command to the nuclear alerts of the Cold War to combat in a 35-year-old anachronism called the B-52. It is a first-hand account of life during the last days of Strategic Air Command, the early days of Air Combat Command and the ensuing military drawdown of the 1990s. From peacetime training exercises across the globe to combat operations in Desert Storm, Jim Clonts takes the reader inside the cockpit where life and death are seconds apart. Often comical, sometimes heart-pounding, other times tragic, WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED takes you into the world of military aviation, a crucible where warriors learn the true nature of character, conscience and mortality.

Friends of Liberty VOL 40
by Jim Clonts, 2010

02/07/2010

Last week President Obama chastised several big banks for their recent record profits and the continuation of their executive bonus and compensation policies. The President spouts populist drivel such as, and I'm paraphrasing, "When the average American is hurting, the fat cat bankers are bringing home millions in bonuses. When the banks needed help the American people came to the rescue, now the American people want their money back!"

Okay, a couple problems here. One, the banks that are making the huge profits have already paid back their bailout money, with interest. Two, in reality, the bailout money never came from the American people. It was borrowed from China and other countries. (Of course, the American taxpayer will have to pay that back.)

The President wants to instate a windfall profit tax on banks. He is also upset with the banks for not increasing their lending to businesses. These are the same banks that weren't making any profit last year and the Government deemed too big to fail. Now---here are two dirty little secrets of banking in an Obama-world:

One: large and small businesses are not crying out for capital, because they are not certain they can afford to expand with all the uncertainties the Obama Administration presents. Who is going to commit to huge business loans with healthcare, carbon taxes and union card-check as the priorities of this administration? Businesses simply don't know what rules they are going to have to operate under in the near future. They don't know what their taxes and other obligations will be. Only an idiot bets money on a game he does not understand.

Two: The policies of the Federal Reserve and this Administration allow banks to make record profits without loaning anything to anyone. How is this possible? The banks can borrow money from the Federal Reserve at something like .1% interest. They, in turn, take the cash and buy treasury bonds earning 3%. The banks are making almost 3% profit with absolutely no risk. They don't even have to manage a loan. It is a way to bring money from the Federal Reserve into the coffers of the Federal Government using banks as a vehicle. When this money gets spent by Government, it will cause inflation because there are no goods or services to back it up. It was printed. No wealth was created in the process.

So, once again, the President is disingenuous. He spouts populist drivel denouncing the banks in an effort to drive public opinion against them and give himself cover in the process, all the while using the banks to launder his money. You can bet every time Congress votes to raise the debt ceiling another trillion dollars, the banks show up on the Fed's doorstep with their hands out---and Obama meets them in the back alley to get his 97% of the take.

As a Conservative I am generally supportive of profits and I do not play the class envy game of begrudging executive bonuses for banks or other companies. However, I cannot support the bank CEOs' current actions. They seem to be taking a chapter from the Al Capone School of Money-Management by colluding with the Federal Reserve and the Obama Administration in the biggest money laundering operation in history.

Welcome to: JimClonts.Com E-mail: b52radar@jimclonts.com