Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

One Less Defender of Liberty in Washington -- Ron Paul's Farewell

One of the nation's most vociferous defenders of liberty and vocal opponent of big government has given his last goodbye on the floor of the House of Representatives: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Among his many astute observations -- and warnings -- he left for the American people, the segment of his speech on liberty was among the most striking:

Liberty can only be achieved when government is denied the aggressive use of force. If one seeks liberty, a precise type of government is needed. To achieve it, more than lip service is required.

Two choices are available.

        1. A government designed to protect liberty—a natural right—as its sole objective.
The people are expected to care for themselves and reject the use of any force for
interfering with another person’s liberty. Government is given a strictly limited
authority to enforce contracts, property ownership, settle disputes, and defend
against foreign aggression.

        2. A government that pretends to protect liberty but is granted power to arbitrarily use force over the people and foreign nations. Though the grant of power many times is meant to be small and limited, it inevitably metastasizes into an omnipotent political cancer. This is the problem for which the world has suffered throughout the ages. Though meant to be limited it nevertheless is a 100% sacrifice of a principle that would-be-tyrants find irresistible. It is used vigorously—though incrementally and insidiously. Granting power to government officials always proves the adage that: “power corrupts.”

Once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people habits and plan the economy, it causes a steady move toward tyrannical government. Only a revolutionary spirit can reverse the process and deny to the government this arbitrary use of aggression. There’s no in-between. Sacrificing a little liberty for imaginary safety always ends badly.

Today’s mess is a result of Americans accepting option #2, even though the Founders attempted to give us Option #1.

The full text of Paul's Farewell Address is available here via the TheHill.com. Give it a read. Read it and weep -- but read it and take action.

Hearing: “Emerging Threats and Security in the Western Hemisphere: Next Steps for U.S. Policy.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, October 13, will host a hearing titled, “Emerging Threats and Security in the Western Hemisphere: Next Steps for U.S. Policy.” The committee announced that it will examine “current trends and security challenges in Latin America, including drug trafficking, extremism, illicit financing, and the increasing influence of rogue regimes.” It will review U.S. security assistance and policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, and U.S. priorities in the region.

The following witnesses have been called to testify:

1) The Honorable William R. Brownfield, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State;

2) The Honorable Philip S. Goldberg, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State;

3) The Honorable Daniel L. Glaser, Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, U.S. Department of Treasury;

4) General Douglas Fraser (Invited), Commander, U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Department of Defense.

The event will be held in room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, and also will be available via live video through the committee’s website.

U.S. Treasury Seeks Help in Mending Economy -- But Whose Economy?

As congressional and White House budget battles rage on along the littered landscape of national financial woes, the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury this week reached to the private sector for help in overseeing the following five areas of activity: (1) economic crimes; (2) government debt issuance and management; (3) budget and financial accountability; (4) banking and financial services, and: (5) revenue policy and revenue administration.

Ironically, this outsourced assistance will not target these problem areas here in the United States; on the contrary, Treasury is looking for help in monitoring these issues in nations such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, and Pakistan, U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has discovered.

According to a personal services contract solicitation (#A11-105) dated July 21, the person filling the "Program Officer/Coordinator of Post-Conflict Countries" position will “provide administrative and management support” to advisers that Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance has deployed or will deploy worldwide to a total of thirty countries,

The salary range for this slot is $62,467 to $115,742, depending on experience and education. Treasury is accepting applications until August 1.