Chip Wood is the geopolitical editor of PersonalLiberty.com. He is the founder of Soundview Publications, in Atlanta, where he was also the host of an award-winning radio talk show for many years. He was the publisher of several bestselling books, including Crisis Investing by Doug Casey, None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen and Larry Abraham and The War on Gold by Anthony Sutton. Chip is well known on the investment conference circuit where he has served as Master of Ceremonies for FreedomFest, The New Orleans Investment Conference, Sovereign Society, and The Atlanta Investment Conference. Email this author.

Let’s Call Obama’s Bluff

The Chicken Littles in Washington are sure having conniptions over the thought of having to make some spending cuts, aren’t they? “Sequestration” has become the new scare word, with the White House and its allies using language like “doomsday,” “deeply destructive,” “irresponsible” and “catastrophic.”

A Really Rotten Anniversary

It was 100 years ago this month that the 16th Amendment to the Constitution officially became the law of the land. Since this is the one that authorized the Federal government to implement a graduated income tax in the United States, you’ll understand why I say that Feb. 3, 1913, was a very bad day for liberty.

Obama’s Missed Deadline

Obama ignores the law — again. President Obama is required to submit an annual budget to Congress every year by Feb. 1. It’s not just a tradition, it’s the law. But for the fourth year in a row, the Administration ignored this unequivocal requirement. Naturally, his friends in Congress and his allies in the mainstream media have pretty much ignored his flat refusal to obey the law. Are you surprised?

Stop The Illegal Invasion

Where we once had 3 million or 4 million illegal aliens, we’re now told the correct number is more than 11 million. This is not immigration. It’s an invasion. And we need to deal with it as such. This is not just my opinion. It is what our Constitution says.

Obama Denied

Appeals Court overrules Obama. Remember a year ago, when President Barack Obama claimed he was making “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (except the Senate wasn’t really in recess)? On Jan. 25, a three-judge panel of the U.S. court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the appointments were an illegal abuse of executive power. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court decided not to get involved in the dispute. That means all of the pro-union orders the NLRB issued last year could be thrown out. Stay tuned; this could get interesting.

Viewers Ignore Obama

Ratings plunge for Obama inaugural. Fewer than half as many Americans watched Barack Obama’s second inauguration on cable news channels as they did on his first Inauguration Day back in 2009. Four years ago, close to 17 million people tuned in to the special coverage on CNN, MSNBC and FOX News. This time around, fewer than 7 million Americans watched any of the coverage.

Hey, Phil, Move To Florida!

Pro golfer Phil Mickelson backed into a buzz saw when he said he might make some “drastic changes” about where he lives. Thanks to the confiscatory taxes he and his family will now be paying, he said he was even considering moving out of the People’s Republic of California.

Jamie Foxx, Gun Hypocrite

Jamie Foxx is one of a bevy of Hollywood celebrities who appear in a new video urging Washington to come up with a plan to end gun violence. Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Will Ferrell join Foxx in pleading: “For the children of Sandy Hook, we demand a plan.”

Score! Stocks Will Rise This Year

Stock bulls will like this Super Bowl. Are you familiar with Wall Street’s Super Bowl Predictor? It says that the stock market will go up in a year that an original National Football League team wins the Super Bowl, but will fall whenever a team from the former American Football League is victorious. Hey, don’t scoff; it’s been right more than 80 percent of the time. And since both contestants in this year’s Super Bowl were part of the original National Football League (the Baltimore Ravens trace their lineage back to the old Cleveland Browns), followers say the market will be up for the year. Time will tell if they’re right again.

Your Tax Refund Will Take Longer

Delays expected in tax refunds. The Internal Revenue Service announced that the Congressional debate over the fiscal cliff has caused it to delay processing individual tax returns by eight days. The IRS needed the extra time to program its computers to include the changes and extensions the legislation included. The IRS says it will begin processing 2012 tax returns by the end of the month.