Cheap oil has not driven an economic recovery in the US as it was supposed to do. Consumers have benefitted in the short-term from lower prices, but there are still record numbers of Americans out of the work force and the economy looks as shaky as ever. Much of the shale boom was driven by the Federal Reserve Bank’s money-printing policies, which created boatloads of money looking for places to mal-invest. But the soft underbelly of the current cheap oil “crisis” is geopolitical uncertainty primarily in the Middle East. The world is one Turkish missile, or Russian bomb, or US airstrike, or Saudi invasion away from what could a global earthquake in the oil markets. Today’s Liberty Report takes a look at the economics and politics of cheap oil:

The US-led war on Afghanistan has lasted some 15 years and cost well over a trillion dollars. Yet Afghanistan is in arguably worse shape than when the US set out to “liberate” it from the Taliban. In fact, the Taliban are conducting ever bolder strikes against targets of psychological significance such as the airport in Kandahar this week. The US war in Afghanistan is lost, but no one in Washington will admit it because it is too profitable to the military-industrial complex, and the admission would reveal the bankruptcy of the “regime change” and “nation-build” that is at the center of US foreign policy. Instead they will press on, taking with them the lives of many more war victims and untold resources. Today’s Liberty Report takes a look at the US slow-motion defeat in Afghanistan:

It seems like only yesterday that incoming Speaker of the House Paul Ryan promised that from here on the House would proceed only under regular order and that there would be no midnight bills pushed through without due consideration from the committees of jurisdiction. That didn’t last long. As Congress ponders its holiday break, the pressure it mounting to rush through the Cybersecurity Information Sharing (CISA) Act, which encourages companies to spy on their customers and give the information to the US government. They’ve tried to pass this legislation for years, but it looks like by bypassing regular order they will finally push it through. Once again Congress sells out our liberties with the false promises of providing us more security. Today’s Liberty Report is joined by Campaign for Liberty president Norm Singleton to take a look at what Congress is giving us for Christmas:

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced recently that all military jobs, including the most dangerous combat roles, would be open to women starting next April. The announcement added new life to a lawsuit seeking to expand mandatory Selective Service registration to women as well as men who reach the age of 18. The military draft is a form of slavery. Seeking to extend it to women because one feels it is discriminatory if it applies only to men is a case of faulty logic. In a real threat to the United States, likely every able body would defend their homeland. A draft only seeks to add cannon fodder to the imperial foreign policy of the warmongering neocons. The problem is the foreign policy, not a lack of fighters to carry it out. More on women in combat and the draft in today’s Liberty Report:

President Obama’s address to the nation last night urged Americans to not give in to fear, all the while he stoked fear of terrorist threats all around. He outlined four components to his strategy to fight terrorism that looked like what he had been doing all along, seemingly to no avail. He praised American exceptionalism. Then he said he wanted to take the guns from Americans on the government “no-fly” list — even though we know that due to government incompetence thousands are on the list with no ties to terrorism whatsoever. More on Obama’s sly propagandism on today’s Liberty Report:

The police had no motive and no suspects in custody after yesterday’s shooting in California, yet those pressure groups with agendas were already demanding that Muslims be spied on and guns be confiscated. The media, as per usual, amplified every unsubstantiated rumor and outright falsehood about the San Bernardino shooting to keep people glued to their television and glued to their seats. There is little concern about accuracy or journalistic responsibility. The president jumps out ahead of the news and criticizes guns. These tragic events are tools in the hands of those who want to destroy our civil liberties. More on this real threat to our way of life in today’s Liberty Report:

With the sunsetting of Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act last week, we were told that the NSA had stopped its bulk collection of the metadata of American citizens. In fact there are so many loopholes — including downright ignoring the law — that it is certain the massive NSA snooping on US citizens continues. There are Executive Orders authorizing it and sneaky moves to route our communications offshore to bypass US law. Today’s Liberty Report is joined by Ron Paul Institute Senior Fellow Adam Dick to discuss the “reform” of the PATRIOT Act:

More than 100 heads of state join almost 40,000 other elites in Paris for two weeks to discuss how to approve a legally binding global agreement to fight climate change. When polls in the US showed that Americans view climate change as a very low priority, political leaders backed up by the loyal media began pushing the idea that climate change is driving global terrorism. So if you are not motivated to take action to fight global climate change you must be soft on terrorism. That is how propaganda works. And it is working. What will be the implications for US sovereignty and economic and personal liberty of empowering a global body to regulate US economic activity? Join the Ron Paul Liberty Report today for our take:

Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain have returned to the scene of the crime — Iraq — where the war they demanded has left the country shattered into a million bits with ISIS there to take care of the rebuilding. These two “experts” are forever wrong in their every utterance and policy position — remember how angry McCain became when it was pointed out that he was meeting with terrorists in Syria and telling us they were moderates? — yet the slavish US mainstream media continues to defer to their rotten judgement. Back in Iraq over the weekend, the Senators again pushed the only policy they know — war — demanding a fresh supply of young American meat to be ground up in Iraq and Syria. Troops on the ground, they scream. Give us 20,000 to start! Today’s Liberty Report looks at the logical fallacy that doing more of what caused terrorism can defeat terrorism:

Washington wants the rest of us to believe we are living in the most dangerous time in history. It is how they can cower us into accepting their “protection.” But they are wrong. They are hyping threats. In fact we have a great many things to be thankful for as Americans this Thanksgiving. Those of use working for peace and the prosperity it brings have more tools at our disposal than ever in history. We are empowered. Tune in to a special Thanksgiving Day edition of the Ron Paul Liberty Report:

The US and its allies have allowed their desire for regime change in Syria to outweigh their stated desire to get rid of ISIS. What does that result in? Implicit or explicit protection for ISIS and related extremist groups inside Syria. Turkey was enjoying big business in Syrian underground oil shipments…until the Russians bombed ISIS’s oil infrastructure. Then Turkey attacked a Russian plane. What does it mean? Tune in to the Liberty Report:

News that Turkey, a NATO member, has attacked and shot down a Russian fighter attacking ISIS positions in Syria has placed Russia and NATO on a footing as tense as at anytime during the Cold War. Turkey claims that Russia violated its airspace, but even if true according to Turkish radar it would not have been for more than 12 seconds. That means the Turks were ready to fire on the Russians. What does this mean? What will Russia do? Is there any way to avoid this escalating situation? Today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report looks at the troubling developments: