Regional arrangements such as the EU and the proposed FTAA supposedly promote free trade, but their real purpose is to gradually merge nations into a world government.

The so-called SuperCommittee charged with finding $1.2 trillion in cuts over a 10-year period beginning in 2013 found its Kryptonite: itself. The members of what is officially known as the "Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction" admitted defeat in a November 21 press release where members stated, "We have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline."

A "super-Congress" is being proposed by Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell. The left-wing Huffington Post summarizes the plan — which they claim is also supported by Republican House Speaker John Boehner — this way:

"Legislation approved by the Super Congress — which some on Capitol Hill are calling the 'super committee' — would then be fast-tracked through both chambers, where it couldn't be amended by simple, regular lawmakers, who'd have the ability only to cast an up or down vote. With the weight of both leaderships behind it, a product originated by the Super Congress would have a strong chance of moving through the little Congress and quickly becoming law."

House Republicans passed the Ryan budget proposal April 15 by a 235-193 vote, with every Democrat voting against the measure and only four Republicans in opposition. The Ryan budget would endorse a $1 trillion deficit for fiscal 2012 and a $700 billion deficit for 2013.

The compromise fiscal 2011 budget resolution Congress passed April 14, which awaits President Obama's signature, boasted some $38 billion in "cuts" that were just gimmicks and would increase spending overall, according to analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Congressional and White House negotiators reached a deal in the early morning hours of April 9 to keep the federal government open one more week until Congress can pass a year-end appropriations compromise that would increase — yes, increase! — the annual deficit from last year's $1.29 trillion to $1.58 trillion for fiscal 2011. Republican and Democratic leaders touted the "cuts" in the bill because the proposed $1.58 trillion deficit in the compromise is lower than the $1.65 trillion deficit that would have resulted from passage of the White House budget proposal.

The federal government may endure a partial shutdown some time after midnight Friday, April 8 because House Republicans can not come to agreement on spending levels for the rest of the fiscal year with Senate Democrats and President Obama. But what is the disagreement over?

Former U.S. Army Lieutenant and lawyer Brandon Mayfield may be the Patriot Act’s most prominent innocent victim. The federal government imposed warrantless surveillance and a “sneak-and-peek” search of his home upon the innocent U.S. citizen and Muslim convert and arrested him on a “material witness” warrant, even though officials never intended to have him testify in court. In fact, Mayfield was under investigation for supposedly having had a role in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, as the FBI initially identified him (using his military service fingerprints) as one of the persons whose fingerprints were on a bag of bomb parts similar to those used in the bombing.

An alternative budget proposal submitted by Congressman Paul Ryan (Wis.), the House Budget Committee's Republican ranking member, would increase the federal budget deficit even more than President Obama's bloated budget — nearly $1 trillion more — according to a February 24 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

House Democrats have caved in to Republican pressure, removing an anti-torture provision from the Fiscal 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act (H.R. 2701). “The controversial provision,” the Washington Post reported February 26, “would have subjected intelligence officers to up 15 years in prison for interrogations that violate existing anti-torture laws, including the use of extreme temperatures, acts causing sexual humiliation or depriving a prisoner of food, sleep or medical care.”