09.30.08

My letter to Congresswoman Jane Harman

Posted in Politics at 9:02 pm

I originally posted the following letter on the Facebook only, but since I received so many compliments, I’ve decided to post it here for you:

Good evening Jane, this is Mike Roberto of Hermosa Beach again.

I am quite disappointed that you voted in favor of this morning’s bailout bill. I am, however, pleased that a majority of your peers were wiser than you, saw through this Unconstitutional bill of criminal support, and voted it down.

It has become clear to me that you do not understand basic macroeconomics, and since this is our most pressing issue, I cannot vote for you or support you in any way.

I highly recommend that you find time to sit down with Congressman Ron Paul and have him explain to you the disaster that your policies have caused. You are supporting an unjust system which has devalued our currency by 95% since 1913, and you are supporting bills which will cause even more damage to your constituents.

It is not too late for you to understand responsible fiscal policy and to bring US Government spending back under control. Please re-consider your policies.

Sincerely,
Mike

One comment was from my good friend, Lon, who said:

This nut also happens to be responsible for HR 1955 (Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007). Vote BERTO for CA district 36 in 2010!

I cannot believe that I never put two and two together. MY representative is the person who created HR 1955 (Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007), which is essentially a vague and intrusive “thought crime bill” that criminalizes protesting and dissenting from the government’s ideas if you have an “extremist belief system”, which of course is undefined.

It is unconstitutional and violates our right to free speech, and it was written right here on my home turf — in a place where no majority of constituents would even support it!

Lon also had a good write-up of this bill that you can read here.

This now brings up the scary part – there are no third-party candidates running in this district! It’s just Jane and THIS guy. I can understand not having a Libertarian or Constitutional candidate, but no Green Party candidate here either? What a sad state of affairs.

Mike Roberto for CA 36th District 2010, indeed?!

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09.29.08

How to Buy and Own Gold – The Layman’s Guide to Escaping the Dollar

Posted in Investing, Politics at 6:26 am

For nearly 40 years, the government and Federal Reserve has been destroying the value of your money. If you’re like me, you don’t support any bailout plans which effectively give money to criminals at the expense of a worse dollar and higher cost-of-living.

This post is not meant to discuss those issues – it’s here to discuss one solution for your personal savings – how to hedge on some gold (and silver) to preserve personal net worth in the case that the dollar gets further devalued. Having followed gold for a while, but not knowing many ways to actually own good bullion, I finally did some research.

Here’s how you can buy and own gold and silver:

1. BullionVault.com. This is a service that will store gold for you in your choice of three vaults in three different countries (US, UK, and Switzerland [my preferred choice]). It is similar to the popular GoldMoney.com but with better rates and an easier application process. You can purchase the gold from others and will get commissions for selling as well.

   There are many free ways of putting money into BullionVault, such as using their BillPay system, but if you are in a hurry, you can wire it in with a fee.

2. CEF or GTU (I like CEF). These are Canadian Gold Royalty Trusts, which means that they give big dividends (Canadian energy trusts don’t have to pay taxes if they redistribute their income… for now until 2011). With these, you have some new tax forms to do and it can get complicated. See this link for a bit more on these trusts: http://www.dividenddetective.com/canadian_royalty_trusts.htm

   Now here’s the trick when buying CEF or GTU: Around last week, there was a 7% premium (ie http://www.centralfund.com/Nav%20Form.htm – they own $1.446B of assets [mostly gold/silver bullion], but the market cap for the fund is $1.56B. Just take 1.446 and divide by 1.56. The good days to buy are when this premium is less than 10%). If the premium is over 10%, then there are too many shares outstanding for the amount of gold they have, and you are buying into an overbought situation.

   You cannot get physical gold delivery from CEF. You can only sell the fund back for dollars.

3. GoldMoney.com – Open an account here, buy gold or silver at a premium, and they keep it safe in France and Switzerland. They charge you fees for wiring money in and out, and also fees for storage. I haven’t seen a bad review out there on them, so long as you know the fees and premiums you’re going to be paying. I don’t see any free way to transfer money into GoldMoney like BullionVault (above) — you must wire it in at a fee.
   
4. Perth Mint Certificates (Australian Mint) – They’ll hold your gold too – www.perthmint.com.au/investment_certificate.aspx – I’m just not so sure I trust the Australian Government with my gold.
5. Buy coins and lock em up in your gun safe – These guys are reputable and right here in Inglewood, CA – GoldDealer.com. Tulving.com is also well-known. Risks include robbery and US Government confiscating it (google “Gold Confiscation Act”). See also Friday’s news: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080926/mint_gold_coins.html … wtf?
6. Everbank Gold Select – www.everbank.com/001Metals.aspx – I have done very little research on this one, but it sounds quite interesting. Anyone have any thoughts? It might compare better to #2 and #3
7. ETFs, such as GLD, DGP, and a billion others. GLD is 10% backed by REAL metal gold. This is why I’m not as huge on it – when the shit hits the fan, will they be able to keep up?
8. Added a new one – Gold Mining Companies’ stocks. Often times, the mining companies own a lot of gold too, which you will then indirectly own. You, of course, will not be able to get physical delivery.

Please post any comments, links to reviews of the stores/funds, and other ideas. Gold and silver are only ONE way of getting into precious metals, it’s still rather speculative, and there are many other commodities that you should research as well.

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07.20.08

The Great Unamerican Beer

Posted in Politics, Rants at 10:27 am

This past Friday, I was asked to buy some beer for a party. On my way to the grocery store, I deposited my Stimulus Check, then used some of that to buy a case of Bud Light. A few hours later, I realized that this seemingly normal sequence of events was an ironic microcosm for the economic disaster that this country faces, and I was part of the problem.

Over the past decade, our government has engaged in a series of actions that have resulted in the devaluation of the US Dollar. From
artificially low interest rates to printing up “free money” and distributing it as “stimulus checks”, our dollar has become more and more worthless on the global market. Just like its dim-witted citizenry, this country spends more money than it makes. What makes the government different than its citizens is that the government doesn’t go bankrupt — the money just becomes increasingly useless.

As a result of this, the prices of imported goods (oil, anybody?) have skyrocketed, and our country is quietly being bought out by the Europeans.

That case of Bud Light, which is produced by now European-owned Anheuser-Busch, was direct support for the collapse of the dollar and those who are profiting off of it. Cashing that check devalued the dollar, and the devaluation of the dollar is partially responsible for the sale of AB to InBev. Regardless of which came first, the downward spiral we are traveling upon will be difficult to derail unless we make changes now.

My first change? I’m done buying foreign-owned beer that tries to pass off as “Great American Beer” for my cheap beer selection.

Let’s take a look at the currently popular beer purchases:

• Anheuser-Busch products? Nope, soon-to-be owned by InBev, a bunch of Europeans.
• How about that nice Pete Coors guy and his Coors Light? Oops, Molson owns them up in Canada. Tap the Rockies (and give the profits to Canadians) indeed.
• Well, there’s always that dreaded Miller filthwater, right? Wrong. Owned by SABMiller, which stands for South African Breweries – Miller.

That covers about 90% of what you’ll find on the shelves. Now this is where things get really sad: The largest American-owned beer company is now Pabst. What Pabst doesn’t want you to know is that they don’t even brew beer (and clearly don’t know how) – that’s done by our foreign foes in MillerCoors.

So what American actually brews the damn stuff in America? The Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams).

This means that the next time I’m asked to buy some light beer for a party, here are my choices:

1. Sam Adams Light – At 124 calories, hardly a light beer,
   but I do like it.
2. Yuengling – Great stuff, but I’ve never seen it in California.
3. Iron City Brewing – I.C. Light is probably the closest thing to a “Great American Light” beer you’ll find. Unfortunately, it’s brewed in Pittsburgh, and those of you who know me know that I won’t touch it. My devotion to the Cleveland Browns is above even beer
4. Shiner (Spoetzel Brewery) – I absolutely love this stuff, and will drink it on my upcoming trip to Austin, but I’ve never seen a Shiner Light out here. Shiner Bock will do for now.

At this point, I give up. It’s even worse when I realize that I’d like cans so that I can bring them to the beach. Perhaps it is time I stop buying a “Great American” light beer, and move on to the other delicious brews we have and make my friends deal with it.

The time is ripe for an American to step it up, make the next popular light beer, and distribute/market it like mad. While you’re at it, get the NASCAR crowd up in arms. Pabst could step up to the table, but they need to start brewing their own beer again before I jump onto that bandwagon. Until then, I’m drinking Shiner and Fat Tire.

And as a footnote, how did Friday’s party go? Well, during a wild drinking game, my friend accidentally swallowed a quarter, and couldn’t get it back up. What’s really miserable is that by the time he ‘passes’ it, it will probably be worth about half as much.

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02.27.08

Open Letter to Rep. John Conyers re: Sirius/XM Merger

Posted in Politics at 9:35 pm

Representative Conyers,

This brief message is with regard to the Sirius / XM Satellite radio merger that you and your committee have the ultimate approval of:

Please stop impeding business. It is unethical and un-American. I, the paying customer, will decide what business transactions are worthy of success or failure.

Sincerely,
Mike Roberto

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12.19.07

Ron Paul Supporters Donate $6.04 Million in Tea Party ‘07

Posted in Politics at 11:18 pm

That’s right!

Join the revolution today!

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