You've no doubt seen those interminable TV commercials extolling the virtues of buying gold, silver and other precious metals. They tell you that gold will protect you from inflation and the falling value of our once-vaunted currency. And, so long as Mr. Bernanke, Fed Chairman, continues to print money at the rate of more than $85 BILLION DOLLARS a month, month after month, there's no question that it's just a matter of time before inflation (too many dollars chasing too few goods and services) grinds our dollar into pennies.
They also tell you that gold and silver have appreciated much more than the stock market over the past decade or so. That's true; while gold has increased about 400% since 2003, the stock market is up only about 175%. So yes, my friends, buying gold might be a really good idea. But I think I have a better one: Ammunition.
About ten years ago George W. Bush was president and a box of 50 .22 long rifle caliber rimfire cartridges cost about $2.50. Or, roughly a nickel apiece. They remained at about that price until something earth-shattering happened on November 6, 2008: Barack Hussein Obama was elected president.
Beginning the next morning there was a run on guns and ammunition that has scarcely abated since. Why? Because those in the know, know that Obama and his Chicago cronies hate guns and hate the fact that you and I can buy and keep and use them. He/they want to disarm you, and everything he's done since being reelected has proves it. Now that he no longer needs to be reelected he can begin to focus on his primary goals; pass carbon taxes, eliminate conservatism, end drilling, make citizens dependent upon the Government, end freedom and - wait for it - disarm us. His actions after the Sandy Hook massacre is proof positive that I know what I'm talking about.
So, I and millions of others like me have been buying guns and ammo at a record clip. In fact, Obama was named "Gun Salesman Of All Time" by the National Rifle Association. Gun company stocks have increased since his election by a factor of ten. Gun prices during that period have increased by at least 100%. And ammo is now almost beyond the budget of the average American. Proof?
A "brick" of .22 ammo, or 500 rounds, will set you back $100, maybe even $150, or about four or five times what it cost ten years ago!
Other calibers have increased more or less proportionately. Some of this is simple economics of the supply - demand variety. Lots of people want it and the manufacturers can't make it fast enough. And I'm of the opinion it won't calm down until we elect a president who decides to honor his oath to protect and defend the Bill of Rights...including that pesky 2nd Amendment.
Until then, you decide: buy gold and hope to get a modest rate of return, or buy ammo and be almost guaranteed to see your investment double, triple or even quadruple in value. As for me, I'm buying all the ammo I can find...
I screwed up. Yes, kiddies, I had a choice to make while growing up, and I chose wrong. I decided to get an education, take a job, work my ass off and, hopefully, reach the semi-lofty heights of success. Oh, and reap the rewards that accrue therewith.
I should have chosen to emulate Lois Lerner.
You may not know her. She's the career bureaucrat babe that until a few days ago ran the tax-free organizations office for the Infernal Revenue Service. Those are the 501c(3) IRS code organizations like Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army, and c(4) political speech "Citizens United" outfits like Karl Rove's Crossroads USA and George Soros' uber-lefty Media Matters and MoveOn.org. They can raise money and spend it in an effort to influence thoughts and votes because the Supremes voted in the aforementioned case that doing so is protected by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.
These outfits make application to the IRS, and those applications are then approved (or denied) by whoever runs the department at the time. Except in Lois' case. If the applicant organization consisted of folks with a conservative viewpoint, such as with the terms "Tea Party" and "Constitution" in their names, the applications were neither approved or denied; they were just put into the lower right hand drawer of her desk and allowed to languish there until the applicant sees the error of their ways and converts to socialism, or Jesus decides to finally return. Or, of course, until Barry leaves office. If he ever does.
Look at it this way. If an organization wishes to influence political thought and speech, and is prohibited from raising money to do so because the Liberal Loons running things at the IRS keep you from proceeding, then you have effectively been shut out. Your voice has been silenced. And your ability to provide that influence has been squelched. In essence, through the unreal power of the IRS only the liberal point of view was allowed to spew forth. And spew it did during the 2012 election cycle. And we all know how that turned out.
So good ol' Lois was hauled before Congress. She began her testimony by declaring her innocence, and then promptly claimed her rights under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution. Of course, as a lawyer she knew she couldn't do that, but she did. She basically testified, and then refused to testify. And because of the furor her doing so caused, she was promptly put on extended leave of absence at full pay and benefits! Whoa! From what I hear her union will appoint a lawyer at our expense, and she will appeal that absence. That may take 18 months to wind its way through the courts. And if she is found against, she has the opportunity to appeal. And that will take another 18 months! So Lois gets three years, at least, at full pay, which is $177,000,00 per year, for doing absolutely nothing. Which, by the way, would take her past her mandatory retirement age, so she could check out at full pay and bennies without ever working another day. Think of it; because she's caught hosing conservatives she gets to sit home eating bon-bons and watching Jerry Springer reruns at about $100 per hour.
Of course, we conservatives would prefer it that way, since while she was working she was screwing things up for good, God-fearing Americans. Reports are that she has been resolute in harming conservatives at every opportunity. But we poor slugs were never informed of such propensities because her peers in the D.C. bureaucracy were of a like mind...lefty socialist thieves.
So, Congress will investigate, and possibly recall her to try and pry some info out of her. And she'll just do that 5th thing again, which will result in more sturm and drang without anything being learned. But good ol' Lois will still be doing that "cha-ching" thing at nearly $4,000 a week.
Remember when choosing civil service meant a meager salary but great benefits and absolute, ironclad job security? Now, it's still the same but the salary is just about twice what an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, tax-paying civilian earns. Where did I go wrong? why didn't somebody tell me that civil service is the quickest and most secure way to becoming a millionaire? I'm pissed...
