War Abroad, Poverty at Home

By Paul Craig Roberts

The US Senate has voted $165 billion to fund Bush’s wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq through next spring.

As the US is broke and deep in debt, every one of the $165 billion dollars will have to be borrowed. American consumers are also broke and deep in debt. Their zero saving rate means every one of the $165 billion dollars will have to be borrowed from foreigners.

The “world’s only superpower” is so broke it can’t even finance its own wars.

Each additional dollar that the irresponsible Bush Regime has to solicit from foreigners puts more downward pressure on the dollar’s value. During the eight wasted and extravagant years of the Bush Regime, the once mighty US dollar has lost about 60% of its value against the euro.

The dollar has lost even more of its value against gold and oil.

Before Bush began his wars of aggression, oil was $25 a barrel. Today it is $130 a barrel. Some of this rise may result from run-away speculation in the futures market. However, the main cause is the eroding value of the dollar. Oil is real, and unlike paper dollars is limited in supply. With US massive trade and budget deficits, the outpouring of dollar obligations mounts, thus driving down the value of the dollar.

Each time the dollar price of oil rises, the US trade deficit rises, requiring more foreign financing of US energy use. Bush has managed to drive the US oil import bill up from $106 billion in 2006 to approximately $500 billion 18 months later–every dollar of which has to be financed by foreigners. (more…)

Burning New Testaments in “Democratic” Israel

By Rev. Ted Pike

Millions of Christians have been incensed in the last several days over public burning of New Testaments in Israel. Hundreds of New Testaments were distributed by Messianic (Christian) Jews in the predominantly Jewish Orthodox town of Or Yehuda. But the town’s mayor, Uzi Aharon, had Jewish religious students gather the New Testaments and burn most of them next to a synagogue.

Is this an act of isolated bigotry?

No. Burning of the New Testament is a religious duty according to Judaism’s highest religious authority, the Babylonian Talmud. It says “the writings of the minim [Christians] deserve to be burned, even though the holy name of God occurs therein, for paganism is less dangerous than minuth [Christianity].” (Shabbethai 116) (See, “U.S. Government, Talmud Mock New Testament“)

The Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, the official religious representative of the state of Israel, upholds the Talmudic view. What about the Israeli government? Will it prosecute Jewish fanatics who increasingly violate the rights of Christian Jews in Israel? Not likely. The government of Israel doesn’t defend persecuted Messianic Jews, even though persecution violates their rights as Israeli citizens. The official attitude is that, as such missionaries have no business proselytizing, the consequences are left to the discretion of local magistrates and police. (See, “Christians in Israel: An Endangered Species“)

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