After the Fall: How will TEXAS PROTECT IT'S CITIZENS after a NATIONAL DEBT CRISIS?!?

"Prepare your outside work,
Make it fit for yourself in the field;
And afterward build your house."
Proverbs 24:27

TPPF Policy Orientation: How can Texas untangle its state finances from the Feds?!?

Susan Combs (Former Texas Comptroller):

• Proposed local govt. debt transparency bill in 2013 session.

• TelltheTruthTexas.org

• Special purpose district are proliferating across the state.

• School construction report: Made them REALLY mad!!!

• "They think we're too dumb to know but just smart enough to pay."

• "It's our money."

• "There's no excuse, in 2016, for everything not to be on the internet."

• Find a few really stupid Federal grants every year and TURN THEM DOWN!!!

Rep. Matt Krause (R - Tarrant County):

• There's very little way to track how much Federal $$ is going to local govts.

• The ability to not have transparency is something people want to hold onto.

• HB 3606.

• "If something is going to crash at the federal level, Texas is going to be on the hook for _________________________"?!?

• Fiscal risk management commission: Figure out what Texas needs to do to prepare in case things go to heck at the Federal level.

• "Texas has to be prepared to take care of its citizens."

• You can't tell the Feds "come and take it" then say "but thank you for the $800 million over here."

• "Open to" an effort to allow state of Texas to accept BITCOIN for purposes of paying taxes.
• Author's Note: We only got this idea this morning, more for the purposes of undermining the Federal Reserve than dealing with the Federal Government's fiscal excesses, but we can see value in this idea for both purposes.

Mario Loyola (TPPF):

• Feds have roped the states into their fiscal problems.

• Approx. 35% of state budgets consist of Federal funds.
• "Conditional grants in aid."

• It's a fiction that states can turn down Federal money without coercion.

• Every year the Feds transfer about 3% of GDP to the states.

• Federal grants to the states are a de facto state income tax.

• A coalition of uncompetitive progressive states controls to the Federal govt and uses it to hold back conservative states.

• "The separation of Federal and State governments has been lost."

CTRA: Kevin Freeman discusses Global Economic Warfare

"A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.
Proverbs 22:3

Texas Land and Cattle -- Kevin Freeman, author of Game Plan, spoke to the Central Texas Republican Assembly last night.  He discussed foreign activity behind the 2008 stock market crash.  He also outlined the current ominous geo-economic situation:



Highlights:

• The past two days have been the biggest stock market drop in a year and a half.

• "I'm really worried about Radical Islam crashing the stock market."

• Brand new kind of war: Cyber-Economic

• 2008: Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia went after Lehman
• Putin went after Fannie and Freddie

• Saudi Arabia is going broke.

• Kanjorski's "electronic run on the bank" quote.

• Russian media predicting U.S. market collapse this fall.

• Financial Crisis Inquiry Report was a cover-up.

• July, 23 2015 -- China accuses U.S. of crashing their stock mkt.
• Commies always accuse their opponents of doing what they're about to do.

• Chinese role model is Soros' attack against the British Pound in 1992.

• Russians hacked NASDAQ in 2014.

• "You can do a lot of damage with fake tweets."

• China called for an end of the dollar in 2013.

• Kerry dollar comment -- What if they know it's coming and are trying to blame Congress?!?

• Texas needs to get Gold Depository operational.
• Texas could issue "Gold-Backed BITCOIN"

BOOK REVIEW: Game Plan, by Kevin Freeman

"So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe....Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”
Genesis 41:31...36

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9

"But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand."
Ezekiel 33:6

Financial terrorism is the greatest threat currently facing the U.S. economy and national security.

In 2012, Kevin Freeman published Secret Weapon, which detailed how the 2008 financial crisis was a foreign attack on the U.S. economy.  Unfortunately, since then, U.S. political leadership has chosen cronyism over preparing for another attack.  Given this reality, Freeman's 2013 follow up Game Plan is a guide for individuals to protect themselves during perilous economic times.

Since 2008, under George W. Bush and Barack Obama (and congresses of both parties), the United States government has spent itself into oblivion.  The Federal Reserve has degraded the value of the dollar.  Productive economic activity is stagnant.  With more attacks on the horizon, the U.S. economy is prostrate.  While the primary battlefield is financial, military weakness and border chaos don't help.

Financial terrorism takes many forms (p. 71).  Examples include: an EMP (72), cyber attacks on financial markets (78-9), Flash Crashes (83), Bear Raids (90), or interest rate shocks (91).  Any of these scenarios could devastate the U.S. and/or Global economy.  From Al Qaeda, to China, to ISIS, to North Korea, to Russia, many of America's enemies have experimented with these capabilities.  Threats come from a variety of sources.

Over the next few years, prepare for economic uncertainty without recent precedent along with major downside risk.  Freeman investigates how various asset classes will act in various scenarios.  The biggest question is whether we face deflation or inflation.  The next major question is whether the dollar loses its status as global reserve currency.  Depending on the scenario, various allocations between precious metals (ch. 5), stocks (ch. 6), cash (ch. 8), and commodities (ch. 10) make sense.  Unfortunately, Freeman doesn't discuss BITCOIN, another avenue for diversification.  Under most circumstances, bonds should be avoided for a few years.

One note on gold: it's a good idea, but it's not a panacea.  Freeman tracks the price of gold from 1263 to 1932 to illustrate how, "for hundreds of years, gold was relatively steady (97)."  The U.S. "constitution also explicitly addresses gold and silver coinage for the states" (100) in Article I, Section 10.  Unfortunately, gold is also subject to confiscation (102) and price manipulation (107).  Over the long run, stocks outperform gold.

Bailouts, government debt, and "quantitative easing" have hobbled the U.S. economy.  This weakened state leaves the U.S. economy perilously vulnerable to financial terrorism.  That terrorism can take a variety of forms and come from a variety of places.  That being said, if you stay calm and adapt with circumstances, you can survive and proper through the coming crises.  To prepare yourself, Game Plan, by Kevin Freeman, is a fantastic place to start.

Converting three Millenial Davis supporters to Abbott

"The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil."
Joel 2:24

21st st. Co-Op -- Earlier tonight, we visited a friend in the the West Campus area.  The conversation turned to the Governor's race.  We made an offhand comment that instantly converted three (very, very) soft Wendy Davis supporters into committed backers of Greg Abbott.  To be honest, this author was surprised by the strength of the reaction.  It took one word....

...BITCOIN!!!

This author casually mentioned that Greg Abbott was the first major candidate in history to accept campaign contributions in BITCOIN and that the BITCOIN community is moving to Austin as a result.  These kids were floored.  They simply had no idea.

These kids aren't particularly political, but they know BITCOIN is the right side of history.  When they realized a decision Greg Abbott made several months ago is going to bring BITCOIN closer to them, they were genuinely greatful.

It's become a cliche to say that disruptive innovation is going to radically transform the world over the next decade.  It's still true.  Those on the right side of history will reap a whirlwind.

Apparently, it's also good politics.

There's a lesson there; if people are willing to learn it!!!

Texas: Future Headquarters Of Bitcoin

"The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil."
Joel 2:24

Astonishing and exciting news about the convergence of BITCOIN and good economic policy in Texas:

When it comes to creating jobs, don’t mess with Texas. The state has had stronger job growth over the last 13 years than any of the other 49 states, and even though the state will soon have a new governor, Texas will continue to be poised as a leader in job growth, while other states stifle innovation with regulation.

Here’s why:
Texas has embraced companies with a clear regulatory environment and that is not just for big oil. Texas is home to a large aerospace industry and a booming technology sector that could take bitcoin to the moon. You may think California is the bitcoin capital of the world and it is in terms of investment and innovation, but bitcoin companies are considering moving from Silicon Valley to the Silicon Prairie and Silicon Hills for the lower costs of doing business and tax incentives. Texas is ranked 11th on the State Business Tax Climate Index for 2014, while California is 48th and New York is dead last.

Dustin Trammell, Bitcoin Venture Capitalist and entrepreneur, says that “Given the contradictory guidance regarding Bitcoin regulation that’s been provided by U.S. Federal agencies, and no desire by the Fed to settle the differences, how to handle Bitcoin is being worked out by some states.”

This is where the opportunity lies. While some states have said that virtual currency regulation already falls within the scope of existing regulations, others have suggested the need for new virtual currency specific regulations such as New York Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) BitLicense.

Many prominent figures and businesses in the Bitcoin community have already come out against Ben Lawsky, the unelected superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, for his proposed BitLicense. These industry leaders and companies include Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Xapo CEO Wences Casares, Coinbase and Max Keiser, among more.

While New York seems to be pushing away bitcoin business, others states, like Texas, are seeing this as an opportunity to bring more jobs to their state.

Government:
Texas offers $19 billion in tax incentives to businesses, the highest of any state, and has low taxes. Last year, Texas recorded a 5.5 billion dollar budget surplus.

Greg Abbott, Texas’ Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, who is positioned to be the next governor, is accepting bitcoins for his campaign and will likely be one of the first governors to win an election accepting bitcoin.

“I made the decision to accept Bitcoin because I believe that it represents the free-market economic principles that make Texas a national leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. As Governor, I will keep taxes low, government small and reduce regulations so Texas’ booming technology sector will continue to flourish,” said Abbott.

Abbott is leading in the polls by a 12.6 percent margin, a sizable lead considering there is only one debate left on September 30. Abbott has served Texas as Attorney General since 2002 and knows the potential bitcoin can bring to his state.

Texas has a strong technology friendly history. Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1958. Texas played a large part in the dot com era, and it hosts large technology companies like Dell and Texas Instruments. Texas can also support these businesses with a highly skilled workforce with the roughly 578,000 students enrolled in Texas’s 36 largest universities. These veterans from the dot com era along with a growing educated workforce will play a major role in Texas’s Bitcoin future.

US Representative Steve Stockman (TX-36) is also a public supporter of bitcoin. Rep. Stockman was the first Member of Congress to introduce a piece of Bitcoin legislation back in May 2014. The Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act aimed to treat virtual currencies as currency instead of property for federal tax purposes.

“It’s good to see Attorney General Abbott embrace virtual currencies like Bitcoin. It’s an emerging technology, and one that opens the doors for small businesses to sell globally. Texans have always embraced innovation. We created the modern economy by giving birth to the petroleum revolution, we led the world into the space age and now Texans are at the cutting edge of economic evolution,” said Rep. Stockman.

Bitcoiners:
Regardless of political affiliations, most bitcoiners would like to see the advancement of Bitcoin technology and the values Bitcoin represents. The fact that many political figures are taking their stances on Bitcoin by accepting seems promising.

“As a Bitcoin enthusiast living in Texas, I am encouraged when our leaders and representatives support Bitcoin and encourage the development of technologies based on the blockchain. Keeping regulations reasonable will insure Texas will be at the center of developing this new technology,” according to Paul Snow, President of the Texas Bitcoin Association.

While accepting bitcoin for political contributions is a great first step, what the Bitcoin community really wants and needs is smart regulation that promotes the acceptance and use of digital currencies. After all, actions speak louder than words.

“If a politician wants to be serious about promoting and normalizing using Bitcoin, he or she will introduce legislation which allows me to pay for my property taxes and parking tickets with it. That would be much more beneficial to me, the citizen taxpayer, instead of merely benefiting a candidate’s campaign,” said Tod Beardsley, Engineering Manager at Rapid7, Dogecoin Shibe.

Being able to pay taxes in bitcoin would certainly be a game-changer, but is not anywhere on the US government’s agenda. However, the Isle of Man’s chief executive of economic development said that residents of the Isle could soon be able to do just that.

Texas vs. New York
One thing is for sure: New York’s proposed BitLicense companies will look at Texas’ regulatory environment and lower cost of living, and set up business because of the reduced barriers to entry.

“In some cases, the contrast between these various laboratories of economics are becoming quite stark, such as between economically conservative and even libertarian leaning states like Texas versus states like the New-York-nanny-staters and their proposed BitLicense,” said Dustin Trammell, Bitcoin Venture Capitalist & entrepreneur.

....

There are a lot of applications bitcoin can be used for and Texas’s bitcoin community will surely take advantage of them. From financial services to solving problems associated with The Internet of Things, entrepreneurs are finding use cases for bitcoin wherever they can.

“Austin is home to quite a number of Bitcoin startups, and even one of the few established regional Bitcoin conferences, the Texas Bitcoin Conference held every March in Austin, Texas. We have the momentum here in Texas, and we want to build on that, not suppress it with counterproductive regulation,” according to Paul Snow.

One problem bitcoin can solve in Texas is to help the vast amount of the population that is unbanked. Texas is ranked fifth in the country for having the largest percentage of unbanked and underbanked residents: 11.7% of Texas’s population is unbanked and 24.1% is underbanked.

 Read the whole thing here.

"The Passion Economy" is coming to Austin!!!

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,"
Colossians 3:23

This is the coolest thing we've seen since BITCOIN:



Highlights:

• Passion is the most overused, underutilized, word in the English language.

• The education system is the least passion oriented system in history.

• Following you passion entails sacrifice.

• The sharing economy is the foundation.

• What you will work for for nothing is your most valuable asset and you should be able to make money off of it.

Learn more here and here.

Glenn Beck, Patrick Byrne, and Radical Innovation

Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,
saying,

“When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?”—
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
Amos 8:4-6

Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne stopped by Glenn's studio last week to discuss what's coming in the next decade:



Highlights:

• "Wall St. doesn't like you at all."
• In recent decades, Wall St. has gotten Washington "under it's thumb."
• "That's where republics go to die."

• The S.E.C. has no teeth and should be moved into the Department of Justice.

• Orange jumpsuits are the only thing that scares Wall St.

• "BITCOIN presents a real opportunity because you get to check out of the whole Federal Reserve system."

• The next disruptive technology is a BITCOIN version of the stock market.

Meet BITCOIN Girl!!!

"Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,
saying,

“When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?”—
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat."
Amos 8:4-6

A-MA-ZING:



Highlights:

• "She kissed the Federal Reserve Goodbye!!!"

• "All her currency is peer to peer, no regulation can interfere!"

• "She's over paper money, which has no value intrinsically!"

Greg Abbott Makes Porn for Econ Nerds

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

Oh Greg Abbott, you had me at cryptocurrency:

Texas Firearms Dealer first to accept BITCOIN

Michael Cargill is a tireless fighter for liberty in Travis County.  Whenever there's a local campaign, Michael shows up and works his tail off.  Michael's business, Central Texas Gun Works, made a major announcement today:

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- Beginning Monday, January 27, 2014, Central Texas Gun Works, owned by Michael Cargill, became the first firearms retailer of Texas to accept online payment in the new Bitcoin (www.bitcoin.org) currency system, an innovative payment network changing the way consumers use digital currency.

Starting Wednesday, January 28, 2014, Central Texas Gun Works will accept Bitcoin for all in-store transactions, including the sale of firearms, ammunition, accessories, and class registrations.

Bitcoin uses instant, worldwide, peer-to-peer transactions to make payments over the Internet. Using a mobile app or computer, bitcoins are purchased through a Bitcoin exchange network or from individuals. Consumers are able to shop at Central Texas Gun Works using their personal Bitcoin wallet to make payments. This form of payment is faster and more convenient than paying with a check, debit or credit card and includes increased privacy and security.

For businesses, like Central Texas Gun Works, using Bitcoin costs little to maintain, reduces risk of chargebacks or reversals, and protects against fraud, resulting in a lower cost to merchants than check or card transactions. Additionally, businesses can accept faster payments and incur a lower cost to protect sensitive information about their customers, including account information and credit card numbers. Central Texas Gun Works has partnered with BitPay as its Bitcoin merchant services provider.

“We are thrilled to be able to accept Bitcoin, a new, innovative form of payment, from our customers,” says Central Texas Gun Works owner, Michael Cargill. “We hope by using this currency in Austin, it will help to generate new customers and attract more visibility for our business.”

Bravo Michael; read the whole thing here.

North Texas clinic accepts Bitcoin

Well this is certainly interesting:

One Texas health clinic is accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment.

At Rapid med Urgent Care Center at Highland Village in North Texas, patients can pay using Bitcon's digital dollars in addition to cash or credit cards.

....

Coindesk reports that many medical patients choose Bitcoin because they chose to keep their health visits a secret and want to ensure patient to doctor confidentiality.

The website explains that using Bitcoin is safer than using a credit card and makes people less susceptible to identity theft.

'With Bitcoin, there is no credit card number that some malicious actor can collect in order to impersonate you. In fact, it is even possible to send a payment without revealing your identity, almost just like with physical money. You should however take note that some effort can be required to protect your privacy,' says the site.

Bitcoin is not 100 per cent anonymous and can be linked to a person's identity when they convert Bitcoin to currency. However, for keeping health information between a patient and a doctor, Bitcoin is a useful tool.

Read the whole thing here.

CBS Dallas has more here.