Month: June 2015

Democrat Sen. Durbin courageously addresses the bankster issue

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●The single most important problem in economics is the gap between rich and poor.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Recently, I wrote to my Illinois Senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, asking why not a single big-bank, bankster has been prosecuted, much less convicted.

Here is the full text of his courageous response, along with my comments:

June 25, 2015
Dear Mr. Mitchell:

Thank you for contacting me about the decision not to prosecute many executives involved in the 2008 financial crisis. I appreciate hearing from you.

“Many” executives? How about “any” executives?

In January of 2013, Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Chuck Grassley of Iowa sent a letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder. This letter questioned the scope and type of charges the Department of Justice had brought against those involved in the financial crisis. The DOJ said it would charge people it believed had broken the law. By the end of 2014, the DOJ had secured over $36 billion dollars in civil penalties related to the crisis.

Somewhat of a shift. The DOJ was supposed to charge people. The billions in civil penalties came from the banks. The people could not care less.

In the wake of the 2008 downturn, we worked in a bipartisan way to rebuild the country and enact common sense reform of the financial system. These reforms addressed many of the practices that led to the crisis.

It was not a “downturn,” Senator. It was a full fledged recession, bordering on a depression. Millions of people were thrown into financial devastation. Sadly, too few were politicians.

The “reforms” did not address the fundamental problem: Banks trading for their own accounts, rather than acting as banks.

Firms cannot think they are too big to fail, and executives must not be allowed to make decisions and not feel the consequences. These notions can lead to excessive risk-taking, and the expectation that the government will save a troubled company.

Except, the government rewarded the “too big to fail” banks by lending them money to keep them from failing. And the executives were rewarded with gigantic salaries and bonuses. Why? I guess we all know the answer to that.

I will keep your concerns in mind as we work to strengthen the American middle-class and protect the financial system from reckless behavior.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

I feel good, don’t you. He will strengthen the American middle-class and protect the financial system. How? I don’t know.

Anyway, you might think the headline of this post was sarcastic, when it spoke of his courage, but it takes a lot of guts to send a constituent a letter so filled with meaningless generalities and outright falsehoods. So kudos to Senator Durbin for his courage.

Now if only he would sponsor a term limits bill. His letter is a perfect example for why term limits are needed.

By the way, the solution to the bankster problem is in #9 of the Ten Steps to Prosperity: Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)

Eliminate the profit motive and you eliminate the banksters.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

==========================================================================================================================================================================
The Ten Steps to Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded free Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Federally funded, free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually. (Refer to this.)
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all their forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

Initiating The Ten Steps sequentially will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.-

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia.
1. A growing economy requires a growing supply of dollars (GDP=Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports)
2. All deficit spending grows the supply of dollars
3. The limit to federal deficit spending is an inflation that cannot be cured with interest rate control.
4. The limit to non-federal deficit spending is the ability to borrow.

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Long term view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Recent view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–To which flag is Lindsey Graham referring?

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●The single most important problem in economics is the gap between rich and poor.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Recently, the honorable Lindsay Graham, a respected United States Senator, who is running for President, said, “The flag represents to some people a civil war, and that was the symbol of one side. To others it’s a racist symbol, and it’s been used by people, it’s been used in a racist way.”

The question is: To which flag was he referring, #1 or #2?

1.

2.

Just asking.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

==========================================================================================================================================================================
The Ten Steps to Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded free Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Federally funded, free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually. (Refer to this.)
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all their forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

Initiating The Ten Steps sequentially will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.-

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia.
1. A growing economy requires a growing supply of dollars (GDP=Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports)
2. All deficit spending grows the supply of dollars
3. The limit to federal deficit spending is an inflation that cannot be cured with interest rate control.
4. The limit to non-federal deficit spending is the ability to borrow.

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Long term view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Recent view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–What if the NRA was in charge of our international policies?

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●The single most important problem in economics is the gap between rich and poor.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================

To the NRA, and gun lovers in general, the solution to gun violence is more guns:

NRA Board Member Blames Charleston Shooting Deaths on Victim
Brendan O’Connor

National Rifle Association board member Charles Cotton blamed Clementa Pinckney, a state senator and pastor at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, for his own death and for the death of his parishioners, Thinkprogress reports in Charleston this week.

“Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead. Innocent people died because of his position on a political issue.”

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre famously said, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.”

The problem is, who are the “good guys”?

Charles Cotton seems to believe that every single member of the congregation of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church not only is a “good guy,” but will remain a “good guy” in the future.

He wants them all to be armed.

In fact, the NRA believes everyone is a good guy, and always will remain a “good guy.” It strenuously fights against any gun control laws that might identify “bad” guys.

The NRA invariably claims all gun control laws are part of a government plot “to take our guns away.”

So what is a “good guy,” anyway?

Is a “good guy” someone who never will lose his temper, so never will use his gun in a sudden fit of anger?

Is a “good guy” someone who never will have road rage, someone who never will have a fight with his wife or his neighbor, someone who never will threaten anyone?

Is a “good guy” someone who never will become a criminal?

Is a “good guy” someone who never will get mean drunk? Someone who never will celebrate by shooting his gun? Someone who always will keep his loaded guns out of the hands of children or bad guys?

So the question remains: How do you identify the “good guys,” especially if you aren’t allowed to review the past, nor able to predict the future?

Perhaps the NRA has an undisclosed formula for this, and if so, they might be able to help us with international arms control, specifically nuclear control.

By the NRA formula for peace, the best way to maintain world safety is for every nation to have atomic bombs. Using NRA standards, we should not attempt to prevent, for instance, Iran from getting the Bomb. And letting Hamas and every tiny nation in Africa obtain an atomic bomb would be a good idea.

Nor should we enter into treaties with Russia to reduce the number of ballistic missiles. The more atomic bombs, and the more missiles to fire them, and the more nations that have atomic bombs, the safer we all are.

Who could doubt that? Certainly not the NRA.

We cannot know the future. There could be some small nations, that in the future, “elect” a crazy leader, who decides to bomb his neighbors or us.

It’s unpredictable — just as unpredictable as which of our friends, neighbors and strangers could decide to shoot us.

But, what does it matter how we get killed — by bomb or gun?

The only solution to a bad country with an atomic bomb is a good country with an atomic bomb — and since we can’t know the future, every nation should have atomic bombs and the intercontinental missiles to fire them. (What good are bullets without guns?)

Thank you NRA and gun lovers everywhere, for solving that problem.

PS: Here again are two proposed laws that might reduce gun violence somewhat, while not taking anyone’s gun away:

1. Any person who commits a felony while carrying a gun, shall be sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life, in addition to the term for the felony itself.

2. Any provider of a gun that is used in a felony shall have the same criminal and civil liability as the actual perpetrator of the felony.

Yes, #2 requires that any provider of a gun be able to identify “good guys” and to predict the future, but the NRA assures us they know how to do that.

All violence problems — domestic and international — solved by the NRA.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

==========================================================================================================================================================================
The Ten Steps to Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded free Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Federally funded, free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually. (Refer to this.)
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all their forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

Initiating The Ten Steps sequentially will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.-

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia.
1. A growing economy requires a growing supply of dollars (GDP=Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports)
2. All deficit spending grows the supply of dollars
3. The limit to federal deficit spending is an inflation that cannot be cured with interest rate control.
4. The limit to non-federal deficit spending is the ability to borrow.

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Long term view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Recent view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

Remember Cliven Bundy, the right-wing folk hero? Now, it gets even nuttier.

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●The single most important problem in economics is the gap between rich and poor.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Remember Cliven Bundy? See: Latest right wing hero turns out to be a lying bigot.

Well, here’s an update that will amaze probably no one. The Obama administration, in the same feeble, weak-willed response it has given to banking lawbreakers, has done nothing. (It’s focused its ire on the whistleblower who helped save American’s liberty, Edward Snowden.)

One Year Later, Cliven Bundy and His Right-Wing Militia Are Still Trying to Seize Public Lands
BY CLAIRE MOSER – POSTED ON APRIL 10, 2015

A year after his dangerous armed standoff with federal officials, outlaw rancher Cliven Bundy has become the face of a radical bill in Nevada — and similar efforts in 10 other Western states — to seize and sell off America’s public lands.

Introduced last month by Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R), who is perhaps best known for controversial comments on guns, race, and healthcare, Nevada’s “Bundy Bill” would authorize the state to seize U.S. public lands within its borders and prohibit the federal government from using any land without the state’s permission.

It would also give county commissioners authority to sell off public lands for development.

It’s unconstitutional, but that doesn’t stop the lunatic right.

Right-wing lawmakers in 10 other Western states — Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — have also proposed or introduced similar unconstitutional proposals that would support the seizure and sale of America’s public lands to the highest bidder.

Remember, these are self-proclaimed “patriots,” who wave the American flag while unconstitutionally fight the United States government.

Now, that’s what I call “patriotism.”

Sen. Ted Cruz is preparing to include opposition to America’s public lands in his presidential campaign as a “play for the West.”

You always can rely on Ted “Shut down America” Cruz to take the lunatic side.

In addition to the glaring legal issues they raise, these proposals would place severe burden on state taxpayers who would have to cover high costs of land management, and are consequently extremely unpopular with Western voters.

Bipartisan public opinion research has shown that a majority of Westerners oppose these proposals and believe that giving control of public lands to state governments would result in reduced access for recreation and a high probability the lands would be sold off for drilling, mining and logging.

Hey, you “red” state folks voted for these “patriots.” So quit your whining. Who cares if your lands are sold to greedy corporations, so long as they don’t belong to America.

Isn’t that what you anti-government types want?

You wanted right wing nuts; you got right wing nuts. Now go enjoy shooting your military-style guns, while the federal land you’ve used so cheaply is sold, right out from under you, by your government-hating, law-breaking, oh-so-patriotic, right-wing friends.

I barely can contain my schadenfreude.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

==========================================================================================================================================================================
The Ten Steps to Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded free Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Federally funded, free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually. (Refer to this.)
8. Tax the very rich (the “.1%”) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all their forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

Initiating The Ten Steps sequentially will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.-

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia.
1. A growing economy requires a growing supply of dollars (GDP=Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports)
2. All deficit spending grows the supply of dollars
3. The limit to federal deficit spending is an inflation that cannot be cured with interest rate control.
4. The limit to non-federal deficit spending is the ability to borrow.

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Long term view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Recent view:
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY