–An “investigative” newspaper comments on the new tax agreement

Here is a verbatum copy of an Email I sent to editors and others at the Tribune:

“Today’s (12/7/10) Chicago Tribune editorial titled, “Tax Dealing” contains a mixture of truth and myths.

1. Truth: “ . . .raising marginal (tax) rates, especially with the tax year ending an a matter of weeks, would hurt an economic recover still on life support. Obama knows he needs all the growth he can get.” Translation: Yes, taxes hurt the economy because they remove money from the economy. A growing economy requires a growing supply of money.

2. Myth: ” . . . nobody is reducing the cost of government to make up the lost revenue.” Fact: Federal spending is not constrained by taxes, nor do taxes pay for federal spending. Tax money is destroyed (i.e. “lost”) upon receipt and is not stored anywhere.

3. Truth: “The (commission on debt reduction) work can be a catalyst for historic change.” Yes, if we follow the commission’s debt reduction advice, we will have a depression of historic proportions. See item #1, above.

4. Truth: “The panel’s plan involves cutting everything from defense to Social Security . . . Everyone from senior citizens to post-office customers have complained about the pain involved if the plan were enacted.” Yes, it’s a plan that hurts everyone and benefits no one. It’s all pain and no gain.

5. Myth: “That’s unavoidable. Everyone is going to feel some pain when the nation makes its government live within its means.” Fact: Causing economic pain neither is unavoidable nor praiseworthy. As for the government “living within its means,” the Tribune demonstrates it does not know the difference between monetarily sovereign finances (U.S. Government) and monetarily non-sovereign finances (everyone else). You and I have “means.” We must have a source of money before we spend. We are limited in how much we can spend. The federal government is not limited. It creates money by spending. It alone has the unlimited ability to pay any bills of any size. It has no “means.”

6. Myth: You repeated Sen. Durbin’s comment, “Borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar we spend for missiles or food stamps is unsustainable.” Fact: The federal government does not need to borrow even one cent. Borrowing the money the federal government originally created, and can continue to create endlessly, makes no economic sense. It is a relic of the gold standard days, when federal borrowing was necessary. The government does not spend borrowed money. As for federal spending being “unsustainable,” this myth has been bandied about since 1980 (See: Unsustainable) It is no more true today than it was 30 years ago.

7. Myth: “It’s irresponsible for our nation to go on accumulating unaffordable debts that will force even more painful cuts down the line.” What makes the debt “unaffordable”? The Tribune has no idea. In fact, “federal debt” merely is a synonym for “federal money created.” Without federal debt there would be no money and no economy. The Tribune makes the nonsensical complaint that money is unaffordable.

8. Myth: “The coming agreement on tax cuts will avoid an unwelcome shock to the U.S. economy. It will buy time. But it has to lead to an agreement on long-term deficit reduction.” The Tribune editors do not realize that the first part of this paragraph contradicts the second part. If increasing deficits will help the economy, why do the Tribune editors want to decrease deficits? Ever?

In summary, the Tribune editors continue to parrot the myths of the day. Not once do they even make an attempt to provide evidence supporting their beliefs. So I’ll leave you with a couple of questions, you may or may not wish to answer:

–Exactly what do you mean by “make up for lost revenue.” Do you mean that without this “lost revenue” the federal government will be unable to pay its bills?
–Why do you feel economic pain is beneficial. Has the economic pain we already have felt proved beneficial?
–Why do you feel cutting defense will benefit the economy and American security?
–Why do you feel cutting Social Security benefits will benefit the economy?
–Why do you feel reducing postal service will benefit the economy?
–What is the definition of “means,” when you say the government must live within its means. What has happened because the government has not lived within its “means.”
–What do you mean by ‘unaffordable debts.” Do you think a government with the unlimited power to create money, cannot afford to pay for the T-securities it creates out of thin air? Similarly, what do you mean by “unsustainable”?
–Does the Tribune feel any concern about spreading false information that could damage your readers and the entire American economy?
–Is the Tribune interested in learning the facts?

If any of you are readers of the Chicago Tribune, you may wish to write to them. Perhaps mutiple voices would help. I write to:
Zoll, Yerak, Dold, Japsen, Page, Greising, Letters, Ponpei, Delama, Kern, , Oliphant, Hirt, Business, Knowles, Kass, Lythcott, McHolt, O’Brien, Epodmolik, Lev, Doneal
Hughlett, Nicholas, Widder, Jones, Hunter, Wong

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity. Those who say the stimulus “didn’t work” remind me of the guy whose house is on fire. A neighbor runs with a garden hose and starts spraying, but the fire continues. The neighbor wants to call the fire department, which would bring the big hoses, but the guy says, “Don’t call. As you can see, water doesn’t put out fires.”