The fundamental flaw in U.S. democracy: No term limits

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Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•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.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

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Recently, President Obama spoke in Ethiopia, saying, “Nobody should be president for life. Your country is better off if you have new blood and new ideas. I’m still a pretty young man, but I know that somebody with new energy and new insights will be good for my country. It will be good for yours, too, in some cases.”

What he didn’t say is that the lack of term limits practically guarantees criminality, sloth and nepotism, all of which increase with each passing year.

Consider my state, Illinois, the most corrupt state in the union. Of our last seven governors, four have gone to prison.

Illinois has the worst debt of any state, together with high taxes; our school systems are a mess; and Chicago’s racial segregation is extreme. Illinois is as poorly run as — perhaps more poorly run than — any state.

The state of Illinois does not have any term limits, though some individual cities across the state do.

Thirty seven states have placed term limits on their constitutional officers such as governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer.

Eight out of 10 of the largest cities nationwide place term limits on their mayors and/or city councils, while fifteen legislatures have term limits.

Chicago is one of those two largest cities nationwide without any term limits. Thus, we had Mayor Richard J Daley who held office for 21 years, and ruled king-like over a notoriously corrupt administration.

Later, came his even more corrupt son, Richard M. Daley, who held office for 22 years, before retiring in disgrace. (He sold valuable city property to pay for bribes to unions and others for re-election assistance.)

ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY IGNORES CITIZENS ON TERM LIMITS

“It is a safe bet that the General Assembly will never pass a bill limiting its own members’ ability to seek re-election.” – Christopher Mooney, University of Illinois Springfield professor, term-limits expert

Overwhelmingly, Illinoisans support term limits. A recent poll showed 78.7 percent of Illinois voters support term limits.

Despite the overwhelming public support for term limits, only a few legislators have tried to use the legislative process to enact term limits. The legislature has failed to enact any meaningful term limit reforms.

Consider Illinois’s Michael Madigan:

He is the longest-serving Speaker in state history, having held the position for all but two years since 1983. He has been a member of the Illinois House since 1971.

Chicago Magazine named Madigan the fourth-most-powerful Chicagoan in 2012 and second in 2013 and 2014, calling him “the Real Governor of Illinois.”

Madigan refused to testify in the inquiry over his advocacy for more 40 applicants to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Michael Madigan had sought to use his influence to secure patronage hiring and promotion at the Metra commuter rail agency for two of his supporters.

More than 400 current or retired state and local government employees have strong political ties to Madigan. The former Bureau of Electricity in the Streets and Sanitation Department of the City of Chicago was called “Madigan Electric” by political insiders.

Madigan admitted that he is more likely to return phone calls from campaign contributors than from non-contributors. Of all the current sitting Democratic Illinois House members, Speaker Madigan has received the highest amount of campaign contributions from labor unions.

Madigan was founder and continues as senior partner of the law firm Madigan and Getzendanner specializing in corporate real estate property tax appeals, which has been accused of profiting off of Madigan’s position and power. Getzendanner and four other staff attorneys handle the tax appeals, while Madigan brings in clients.

In 2008 Madigan and Getzendanner represented 45 of the 150 most valuable buildings in downtown Chicago, more than any other property tax appeal firm, and more than twice as many as the second highest.

Then we have the Madigan family nepotism tree:

(His wife) Shirley is the head of the Illinois Arts Council. His oldest daughter, Lisa Madigan, is the Attorney General of Illinois. Madigan’s son-in-law Jordan Matyas is the chief lobbyist for Regional Transportation Authority, a deputy chief overseeing their Government Affairs Department.

In 2002, Madigan helped his daughter Lisa garner more campaign contributions in her run for Illinois Attorney General than even the candidates for governor that year. At one point, Lisa Madigan’s $1.2 million raised was more than all the attorney general candidates in 1998 had raised, combined.

The man has been clever enough to cover his back by installing his daughter as Attorney General, who not surprisingly, never has investigated her father.

How has Madigan achieved and maintained such control?

First, he brings home the bacon to his district. He is not elected by the state voters. He is elected by just one district, and that district receives the benefits of Madigan’s power. If you lived in that district, you would elect him. So would I.

Money flows to Madigan district while state dollars tight

At a time when Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has frozen state spending and cut the budget, a $35 million state grant got paid in full last month that helps build a 1,500-student school in the district of House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Second, the lack of term limits has given Madigan plenty of time to build alliances and to create a system that increasingly provides him with corrupting power.

For a politician, length of term is in direct proportion to breadth of corruption.

The lack of term limits, which allows criminal fiefdoms time to develop, is the fundamental flaw in American politics. It has all but destroyed Illinois and Chicago and presumably many other states, counties and cities.

The primary argument against term limits has to do with experience. A politician gains experience through time, and limiting his time, limits his experience.

However, that does not seem to have been an impediment to the most demanding and important job in America: The Presidency of the United States. The reason: Each new President surrounds himself with experienced people. All politicians can do that.

Once installed, politicians are very difficult to dislodge. They do more favors and collect more money than any opposing candidate.

The whole notion of “Ruler For Life”, whether a governor, mayor, alderman, senator, representative, etc., is an open invitation to the corruption that comes with power.

In summary, the fundamental flaw of American democracy is the lack of term limits.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded 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. 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
8. Tax the very rich (.1%) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all 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)

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

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