COMPLIMENTARY
THE LOS ANGELES PROfESSIONAL ExPRESS
LAProfessionalExpress.com
IRAN BLAMES WEST FOR SUICIDE BOMBINGS
39 PEOPLE KILLED AND 50 INJURED IN SUICIDE
BOMBINGS AT SHIITE MOSQUE IN CHABAHAR, IRAN
Two suicide bombers blew them-
selves up near a mosque in south-
eastern Iran on Wednesday, killing
at least 39 people and injuring more
than 50 people at a Shiite mourning
ceremony.
Among the dead in the blasts
near the Imam Husayn mosque in
Chabahar was a newborn baby.
Irani authorities almost immedi-
ately blamed “the West” and a for
the double bombings that threaten
to dangerously heighten the ten-
sions between religious groups in
Iran.
The deadly attack struck at Shi-
ites, the ethnic group ruling Iran, on
Ashoura, one of the Shiites’ holiest
religious festivals.
A Sunni terror group, the Balou-
shi separatist “Jundallah” (soldiers
of God) reportedly claimed respon-
sibility for the deadliest bombings in
Iran’s recent history. Since its
founding in 2003, Jundallah has
perpetrated several terror attacks
and daring kidnappings of Iranian
officials. Its last major attack, killing
27 people, occurred in the same
Iranian province in July this year.
The Sunni planners timed their
WASHINGTON ORDERS
ANOTHER FREE LUNCH
This week Washington dis-
played the kind of bipartisanship
that will bankrupt our country
and wreck our currency. Coming
at a time when both parties say
they want to address our long-term
fiscal imbalances, the compromise
extension of the Bush era tax cuts
should be a wake-up call to anyone
who somehow expected the Ameri-
can leadership to ever have an
“adult conversation” about the
country’s long term economic
health.
The administration and Congress
are prepared to take the bold politi-
cal move of not raising some taxes
while significantly lowering others
and greatly expanding Federal
benefits. The entire cost of the
$900 billion package will be fi-
nanced entirely by adding to the
national debt. Talk about tough
love. While other countries consider
ways to live within their means,
Washington is intent on devising
ever more creative ways to delay
the day of reckoning.
While Democrats wanted more
government spending, they were
unwilling to vote for broad-based
middle class tax increases to pay
for it. Instead they want what Dem-
ocrats have always wanted: higher
taxes on the “rich.” Republicans
want lower taxes, but as has be-
come typical, they were unwilling to
cut government spending to enable
it. By running up the deficit both
sides get what they want without
any political sacrifice. Sure, they
break their campaign promise to cut
the deficit, but the political fallout
that results will be far less costly
than voting for the tax hikes or
spending cuts.
In truth however, there are no
real tax cuts in this proposal. The
true burden of government is not
measured by how much it taxes but
attack to coincide with Ashoura, a
festival commemorating the death
of Imam Husayn in the epic battle of
Kerbala. This battle split the Muslim
community into two hostile camps.
Shiites view Husayn, the grandson
of the Muslim prophet Muhammad,
and his offspring as his only rightful
heirs. Sunnis, who form the majority
of Muslims worldwide, back Husay-
n’s adversaries in that fateful battle
and view Shiites as heretics.
Iranian state media instinctively
blamed Western intelligence agen-
cies and a “Zionist cabal” for the
attacks, and documents published
by WikiLeaks may suggest why.
Meir Dagan, chief of Israel’s spy
agency, Mossad, urged the Ameri-
cans to topple the mullahs in Teh-
ran in an August 2007 meeting with
then U.S. undersecretary of state
Nicolas Burns. Ethnic strife was one
Iranian “weak spot” Dagan identi-
fied.
“Dagan said that more should be
done to foment regime change in
Iran, possibly with the support of
student democracy movements,
and ethnic groups (e.g., Azeris,
Kurds, Baluchs) opposed to the
how much it spends. Since this deal
ensures that government will be
more expensive next year than it
was this year, American citizens will
have to shoulder the added cost.
Just because Congress has
decided to deliver the bill with
debt rather than current taxes
does not mean that the spending
will not be paid for. The only thing
the plan accomplishes is to alter the
means by which government
spending is financed.
If we had a truly independent
Federal Reserve (one that was not
willing to buy all the excess govern-
ment debt) these larger deficits
would make much more of an im-
mediate and discernable impact on
the financial markets and the econ-
omy. A glut of government debt
should lead to much higher interest
rates. Higher government bor-
rowing also tends to divert sav-
ings and investment capital that
would otherwise flow into the
jobs-creating private sector.
However, with the Fed engaging in
quantitative easing, Ben Bernan-
ke’s “Sixty Minutes” denial notwith-
standing, the money needed to buy
the additional debt is simply printed.
As such, the nasty side effects
have been avoided in the short
term. Instead we are set up for
more inflation and a weaker dol-
lar down the road.
Those who understand the impli-
cations of the “inflation tax” have
already moved savings and invest-
ments out of U.S. dollars, expecting
that the value of their savings and
investments would diminish as a
result of the inflation the Fed cre-
ates. In addition, working Ameri-
cans will see the real values of their
paychecks fall, as consumer price
increases outpace the gains in after
tax incomes.
A MULTIWAVE PUBLICATION
Issue No. 1—15  Thursday, December 16, 2010
ruling regime,” the cable filed by the
U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv reads.
Encouraging ethnic unrest was
part of a strategy based on “five
pillars” to try and halt Iran’s men-
acing nuclear program, which
included sanctions and diplomat-
ic pressure at the UN.
However, Israel’s chief strategist
urged more attention on regime
change, asserting that more could
be done to develop the identities of
ethnic minorities in Iran. He said he
was sure that Israel and the U.S.
could “change the ruling regime in
Iran, and its attitude towards back-
ing terror regimes.”
However, most think it is un-
likely that the Mossad is behind
the terror attack in Iran’s largest
and poorest province.
“Only someone with a good work-
ing relationship with Pakistan could
pull something like this off in Balu-
chistan. It may even have been the
Pakistanis themselves. They are
playing a double game with Tehe-
ran just as with the U.S.,” says one
Iran expert.
By Edgar Tenenbaum | Staff Writer
edgar@laprofessionalexpress.com Civilians pull dead bodies from a mourning procession after two suicide bombs detonate. Courtesy IRNA.
LA(id) Realationship Advice
From our Dearest Sex Advisor
Dearest Dear Sex Advisor, My doppelganger invites me to a We sat around for hours as she
As a result, this plan will do noth-
ing to help our economy. The bene-
When should I start feeling bad
about being “The Other Wom-
an?” This has happened to me on
more than one occasion, and I am
not sure what to do about it.
gang bang and my synapses fire as
the light hits my rods and cones, I
feel the trouble in my bones. I pred-
ickt and aneurgasm.
I look into the mirror and all I see
is cobwebs I look into the mirror and
all I see are fragments
bemoaned the terrible rear-entry
level jobs that were available for a
rescent college vaguate. Then we
analyzed the stars.
There is a leak in my pipe dream
and I suddenly feel like I've been
squirted back into reality like the
fits of holding taxes low will be Consternatedly, "Honey, what is your credit sore?" frantic, desperate conclusion to
more than mitigated by damage I inquire. "I've only had one out- someone's laborious arm pumping,
done by larger deficits. In fact, Mistress in Distress break," was her proud response. I flailing around like a sperm cell with
despite the Fed’s efforts to artifi- have thin ethicks, and talk sick a dizzy spell. Oh well.
cially suppress interest rates, the words, arguing about all we've lost
fear of larger deficits is already Dear Mistress in Distress, and profound. Flaccidly,
driving rates up. Many on Wall WE MUST RECTIFY THIS DEFE-
Street have jumped to the errone- You should always feel bad about CATION DEFICIT BEFORE THERE Vitus Hearn
ous conclusion that rates are rising being the other woman, especially if IS A RESOUNDING SCATASTRO-
because this new fiscal stimulus will you are a man. You deserve better PHE! In Technocolor:
spur economic growth, which in than that.
turn will make further quantitative
easing unnecessary. In truth, the
only thing this plan will stimulate is
larger deficits, meaning the Fed will
be forced to do more, not less QE
in an effort to restrain rates.
It is the fear of additional QE that
has really spooked the bond mar-
ket. Sure, Fed buying might initially
boost treasury prices, but as the
additional dollars created to buy the
bonds work their way into the econ-
omy, rising consumer prices erode
the present value of the bonds.
Unfortunately, nothing in the
plan addresses the fundamental
economic imbalances that under-
lie our economy and that brought
us to the brink of ruin in the first
place. What we really need are
massive cuts in government spend-
ing so we can have true tax re-
lief. In addition, we need to remove
the government-imposed barriers
which make our economy uncom-
petitive, and which are preventing
market forces from correcting the
imbalances. By expanding govern-
ment and increasing debt, the plan
puts us farther than we have ever
been from a real recovery.
By Peter Schiff | President and
chief global strategist of Euro Pacif-
ic Capital Inc. Schiff is an Ameri-
can businessman, author, and
financial commentator.
MALAYSIAN PARLIAMENT BANS
OPPOSITION PARTY CANDIDATES
Malaysia's ruling coalition won a election constituency boundaries about Israel, which he made in
parliamentary vote Thursday to ban before the next polls, which some March.
its archrival Anwar Ibrahim from the expect next year. Political activity has intensified
legislature for six months. Anwar and dozens of other oppo- amid rampant rumors that Najib will
The opposition leader was ac- sition legislators stormed out of call for national polls next year,
cused of making false statements in Parliament's lower house during even though they are not due until
Parliament by claiming that the Thursday's vote. Some held posters mid-2013. Najib might seek to capi-
government's program to promote denouncing the lower house as "a talize on internal bickering in
multiracial unity in this Muslim- kangaroo court" because they Anwar's three-party alliance, which
majority country was inspired by a claimed Anwar was unfairly target- made spectacular gains in 2008
1999 Israeli election campaign. ed. elections but has since lost some of
Lawmakers are expected to en- Anwar and his colleagues who its luster.
dorse another proposal later Thurs- face suspension would be barred Anwar has also been distracted
day to suspend three of Anwar's top from parliamentary debates and by an ongoing trial on charges that
allies for six months because of votes through June, but they can he sodomized a male former aide in
protocol infractions. continue other political work, such 2008. He faces a 20-year prison
The move would erode the oppo- as addressing rallies. The opposi- sentence if convicted of the accusa-
sition's representation to less than tion has already launched efforts to tion, which he insists was fabricated
one-third of the 222-member Parlia- convince the public that the govern- to stem his political ascent. The
ment for the first time since March ment is abusing its legislative ma- government denies any conspiracy.
2008 general elections. That could jority. The three opposition law-
allow Prime Minister Najib Razak's makers face suspension for leaking By Yuri Isacov | Staff Writer
National Front coalition to make information about a parliamentary yuri@laprofessionalexpress.com
changes to the constitution and investigation into Anwar's remarks
 COMPLIMENTARY A MULTIWAVE PUBLICATION

THE LOS ANGELES PROfESSIONAL ExPRESS

LAProfessionalExpress.com Issue No. 1—15  Thursday, December 16, 2010

OBAMACARE STRICKIN: MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE

APPEALS TO CIRCUIT, SUPREME COURTS CERTAIN AFTER FEDERAL
JUDGE HOLDS FED’S MANDATED HEALTH INSURANCE UNLAWFUL
RICHMOND, VA— On December
13, 2010, United States District
Court Judge Henry E. Hudson laid
out the crux of the contest; whether
the Minimum Essential Coverage
Provision of the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, requiring all
U.S. citizens except persons meet-
ing certain criteria to “maintain a
minimum level of health insurance
coverage for each month beginning
in 2014” or else pay a penalty on
their ensuing tax return, is a valid
federal legislative enactment under
the United States Constitution.
Early in his opinion the judge tips
his hat, “No reported case from any
federal appellate court has extended
the Commerce Clause or Tax
Clause to include the regulation of a
person’s decision not to purchase a
product.”
Virginia v. Sebelius, the subject
case decided by Judge Hudson is
one of many filed by Republican
state attorney generals or governors
seeking to invalidate certain of the
Act’s provisions. The defendant’s
name, Sebelius, refers to Secretary
of the Dept. of Health and Human
Services Kathleen Sebelius, who is
the named in the lawsuit because
the United States possesses sover-
eign immunity.
Later today in Pensacola, Florida,
twenty states will be represented by
attorney generals and governors in a
case similar to Virginia seeking to
decree parts of the Act to be uncon-
stitutional.
Congress’s authority to legislate
is largely captured in the Tax Clause
and the frequently famous Com-
merce Clause (both, U.S. Constitu-
tion, Art. I, Sect. 8). The former
simply states that Congress “shall
have the power to lay and collect
Taxes.” The latter grants Congress
the power “to regulate Commerce
with foreign Nations, and among the
several States, and with the Indian
Tribes.” These grants of authority
also limit Congress’s authority; all
powers not granted to the federal
government by the Constitution are
expressly reserved by the states
under the 10th Amendment, lest such
powers abridge a right guaranteed to
individuals (freedom of speech,
association and religion, due pro-
cess, freedom from cruel and unusu-
al punishment, etc.).
To some, Judge Hudson’s deci-
sion, invalidating the Minimum Es-
sential Coverage Provision, brought
no surprises—The Huffington Post
noted that in his 2007 memoir Quest
for Justice, His Honor credits his
spot on the federal bench to twenty
years of service to the Republican
Party. Former President George W.
Bush appointed Judge Hudson to
the bench in 2002 for a life term.
Standing in apposite to state court
judges who largely reach the bench
through election, a life term for feder-
al district court judges purportedly
insulates the same from political
influence.
Not so, argues Bloomberg col-
umnist Ann Woolner. Two other
federal judges who reviewed the Act
before Judge Hudson validated its
constitutionality; perhaps not surpris-
ingly, their honors were both ap-
pointed by Democratic presidents.
Still others think that Judge Hud-
son’s decision went beyond the pale
of partisanship, into impropriety.
Judge Hudson’s annual financial
disclosures since 2003 reveal that
the judge received dividends totaling
between $32,000.00 and $108,000
from Campaign Solutions, Inc., a
Republican consulting firm. (Per
federal rules, Judges need only
report ranges of income).
Worse yet, Ken Cuccinelli, the
attorney general who brought the
suit before Judge Hudson on behalf
of the Commonwealth of Virginia,
retained Campaign Solutions just
this year for his own race and paid
$9,000 to the company for services
rendered. In His Honors defense,
perhaps Judge Hudson did not know
that Cuccinelli retained the firm in
which he solely possessed stock
especially when the AG did so for
seemingly nominal services.
After all, Judge Hudson’s opinion in
Virginia expressly states, “This case
does not turn on the wisdom of Con-
gress or the public policy implica-
tions of [the Act]. The Court’s atten-
tion is focused solely on the constitu-
tionality of the enactment.” The
Court errs on the side of safety and
invalidates the Minimum Essential
Coverage Provision because the
Provision is not substantially similar
to laws that the Supreme Court has
historically deemed to be constitu-
tional:
Neither the Supreme Court nor
any federal circuit court of appeals
has extended the Commerce Clause
powers to compel an individual to
involuntarily enter the stream of
commerce by purchasing a com-
modity in the private market. . . .
Because an individual’s personal
decision to purchase—or decline to
purchase—health insurance from a
private provider is beyond the histor-
ic reach of the Commerce Clause . .
. [t]he Minimum Essential Coverage
Provision is neither within the letter
nor the spirit of the Constitution.
Analyzed at greater depth, however,
the Judge’s opinion seems to stop
short of the more robust analyses
likely to take place at the 4th Circuit
Court and the Supreme Court, where
different results may be yielded.
University of Southern California
Gould School of Law constitutional
scholar and Dorothy W. Nelson
Professor of Law Michael Shapiro
assures The Los Angeles Profes-
sional Express that omitting to pur-
chase health insurance is in fact an
Downtrodden President Obama gains boost in polls following extension of un-
economic activity which affects inter- employment benefits and Bush tax cuts under compromise with GOP-led House.
state commerce. For a mind-
expanding interview with the profes- Below, United States Circuit Court Map segregated by circuits. A circuit court
sor that may make Judge Hudson’s is the court to which a district or federal trial court decision is appealed. It is the
opinion seem purblind, tune into the final appeal guaranteed as of right in the federal judiciary. Next, a challenger
next issue of the Pro Express. must apply to the Supreme Court of the United States for a grant of certiorari.
Four justices must vote in favor of granting a case cert before it will be heard by
By Zein Obagi, Esq. the highest court, a rule also known as the “rule of four.”

ARTS— “For Sale” | Photo by Kristina Sorensen | © 2010

Question and Answer

Q: How does mandatory health insur-
ance differ from mandatory auto in-
surance?
stitutionally limited powers.
requirement under congress’s con-
seeks to impose a health insurance
Care Act, the federal government
the Patient Protection and Affordable
ers to carry auto insurance; under
A: States typically require their driv-
www.kristinasorensen.com
accused of circulating debased states. Imagine having to pay sales tax at

RON PAUL TO CHAIR MONETARY SUBCOMMITTEE IN HOUSE?
Rep. Ron Paul (R), before the U.S.
House of Representatives on Dec. 9,
2009. Reports state that Paul will be the
next Chairman of the Domestic Monetary
Policy Subcommittee in the House of
Representatives.
Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce
the Free Competition in Currency Act.
Currency, or money, is what allows
civilization to flourish. In the absence of
money, barter is the name of the game; if
the farmer needs shoes, he must trade
his eggs and milk to the cobbler and
hope that the cobbler needs eggs and
milk. Money makes the transaction pro-
cess far easier. Rather than having to
search for someone with reciprocal
wants, the farmer can exchange his milk
and eggs for an agreed-upon medium of
exchange with which he can then pur-
chase shoes.
Gold and silver are anathema to
governments. This medium of exchange
should satisfy certain properties: it should
be durable, that is to say, it does not
wear out easily; it should be portable,
that is, easily carried; it should be divisi-
ble into units usable for every-day trans-
actions; it should be recognizable and
uniform, so that one unit of money has
the same properties as every other unit; it
should be scarce, in the economic sense,
so that the extant supply does not satisfy
the wants of everyone demanding it; it
should be stable, so that the value of its
purchasing power does not fluctuate
wildly; and it should be reproducible, so
that enough units of money can be creat-
ed to satisfy the needs of exchange.
Over millennia of human history, gold
and silver have been the two metals that
have most often satisfied these condi-
tions, survived the market process, and
gained the trust of billions of people. . . .
On the desk in my office I have a
sign that says: “Don’t steal – the
government hates competition.” In-
deed, any power a government arrogates
to itself, it is loathe to give back to the
people. Just as we have gone from a
constitutionally-instituted national de-
fense consisting of a limited army and
navy bolstered by militias and letters of
marque and reprisal, we have moved
from a system of competing currencies to
a government-instituted banking cartel
that monopolizes the issuance of curren-
cy. In order to reintroduce a system of
competing currencies, there are three
steps that must be taken to produce a
legal climate favorable to competition.
The first step consists of eliminating
legal tender laws. Article I Section 10 of
the Constitution forbids the States from
making anything but gold and silver a
legal tender in payment of debts. States
are not required to enact legal tender
laws, but should they choose to, the only
acceptable legal tender is gold and silver,
the two precious metals that individuals
throughout history and across cultures
have used as currency. However, there is
nothing in the Constitution that grants the
Congress the power to enact legal tender
laws. We, the Congress, have the power
to coin money, regulate the value thereof,
and of foreign coin, but not to declare a
legal tender. Yet, there is a section of US
Code, 31 USC 5103, that purports to
establish US coins and currency, includ-
ing Federal Reserve notes, as legal
tender. . . . .
The second step to reestablishing
competing currencies is to eliminate laws
that prohibit the operation of private
mints. One private enterprise which
attempted to popularize the use of pre-
cious metal coins was Liberty Services,
the creators of the Liberty Dollar. Evi-
dently the government felt threatened, as
Liberty Dollars had all their precious
metal coins seized by the FBI and Secret
Service in November of 2007. Of course,
not all of these coins were owned by
Liberty Services, as many were held in
trust as backing for silver and gold certifi-
cates which Liberty Services issued.
None of this matters, of course, to the
government, which hates competition.
The responsibility to protect contracts is
of no interest to the government.
The sections of US Code which Liber-
ty Services is accused of violating are
erroneously considered to be anti-
counterfeiting statutes, when in fact their
purpose was to shut down private mints
that had been operating in California.
California was awash in gold in the after-
math of the 1849 gold rush, yet had no
US Mint to mint coinage. There was not
enough foreign coinage circulating in
California either, so private mints stepped
into the breech to provide their own
coins. As was to become the case in
other industries during the Progressive
era, the private mints were eventually
(substandard) coinage, and with the
supposed aim of providing government-
sanctioned regulation and a government
guarantee of purity, the 1864 Coinage
Act was passed, which banned private
mints from producing their own coins for
circulation as currency.
The final step to ensuring competing
currencies is to eliminate capital gains
and sales taxes on gold and silver coins.
Under current federal law, coins are
considered collectibles, and are liable for
capital gains taxes. Short-term capital
gains rates are at income tax levels, up
to 35 percent, while long-term capital
gains taxes are assessed at the collecti-
bles rate of 28 percent. Furthermore,
these taxes actually tax monetary de-
basement. As the dollar weakens, the
nominal dollar value of gold increases.
The purchasing power of gold may re-
main relatively constant, but as the nomi-
nal dollar value increases, the federal
government considers this an increase in
wealth, and taxes accordingly. Thus, the
more the dollar is debased, the more
capital gains taxes must be paid on
holdings of gold and other precious
metals.
Just as pernicious are the sales and
use taxes which are assessed on gold
and silver at the state level in many
the bank every time you change a $10
bill for a roll of quarters to do laundry.
Inflation is a pernicious tax on the value
of money, but even the official numbers,
which are massaged downwards, are
only on the order of 4% per year. Sales
taxes in many states can take away 8%
or more on every single transaction in
which consumers wish to convert their
Federal Reserve Notes into gold or silver.
In conclusion, Madame Speaker,
allowing for competing currencies will
allow market participants to choose a
currency that suits their needs, rather
than the needs of the government. The
prospect of American citizens turning
away from the dollar towards alternate
currencies will provide the necessary
impetus to the US government to regain
control of the dollar and halt its down-
ward spiral. Restoring soundness to the
dollar will remove the government’s
ability and incentive to inflate the curren-
cy, and keep us from launching unconsti-
tutional wars that burden our economy to
excess. With a sound currency, everyone
is better off, not just those who control
the monetary system. I urge my col-
leagues to consider the redevelopment of
a system of competing currencies and
cosponsor the Free Competition in Cur-
rency Act.