What will be the Sanders legacy?

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I’m disappointed, though not surprised, that the math seems to indicate Bernie Sanders will not be the Democrats’ candidate for President. So this might be the time to reflect on what his efforts will have accomplished and what his legacy will be.

A recent article addresses this issue: Sanders Adviser Says Campaign May Have To ‘Reevaluate’ After Tuesday

“There is not a single doubt in my mind that the strong campaign that Bernie Sanders is waging right now is making the Democratic Party better, stronger and more focused on the populist progressive issues that we need to take on if we are going to be successful in November,” said Neil Sroka with the progressive group Democracy for America.

Right now, the Clinton campaign and other Democrats are getting worried that some of Sanders’ attacks are going to leave a mark that will hurt her in the general election, should she be the nominee.

Mo Elleithee, executive director of the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service said, the way Sanders and his surrogates handle the next month-and-a-half will determine his campaign’s legacy.

Elleithee: “People ought to feel good about what he did.  “The problem is too often campaigns in this position end up squandering a lot of that goodwill as part of the end game.”

The hard part is knowing when the end game has begun.

In 2011, we published, “The next speech a courageous President Obama will give”

Unfortunately, the words “courageous President Obama” seem to have a false ring about them, and the proposed speech never was given. You can go to the site and see what might have been.

Now, five years have passed, and times have changed somewhat, at least changed enough to require modifications. So here is an update. Call it “The courageous Bernie Sanders speech that will assure his legacy among the greatest American politicians of all time.”

My fellow Americans,

Together, we fought the great fight. Though we did not achieve the nomination, we achieved something far more important.

We focused attention on the gap between the rich and the rest, and we planted seeds of ideas, that may yet grow into progress for those who have not seen progress, success for those who have not been allowed success, and a clear vision of a bright future for those who have felt there was no future.

Now, we should gather together to support Mrs. Clinton in her quest to make this a better world.

Meanwhile, the time has come for an admission: For many years, you have been told lies, monstrous lies – by the media, by the Tea Party, by the Republicans, by the Democrats, and yes, I’m sorry to say, recently by me.

And all these lies through the years, have chipped away at our great nation. They led to the Great Recession, to the weak-recovery in which too many of us did not participate, to the unemployment, low employment and underpaid employment – all unnecessary, all preventable and all curable.

We, in Washington, have preached government savings and austerity, when we should have preached government spending and prosperity. 

Well, the lies stop right here, right now. During the next few minutes, I’m going to tell you exactly how we can return to prosperity , not just for the few, but for all. 

First, we’ll rid ourselves of the false belief that federal financing is similar to personal financing.  The United States government does something you cannot do — something no state or local government can do — something no business can do.

The federal government has the unlimited ability to create its own sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar.  Even if all federal taxes — all income taxes, all payroll taxes, all federal taxes of every kind — even if all federal taxes disappeared, the federal government could continue paying its bills, forever.

Contrary to what you have been told, we are not “broke,” not “going broke,” and not “insolvent.” Despite going through recessions, depressions, inflations, World Wars and smaller insurgencies, the U.S. government never has failed to pay a bill, and never will.

Second, the federal deficit, the difference between taxes and spending, neither is a burden on the federal government nor a threat to our economy. On the contrary, the federal deficit is necessary to grow the economy. 

There simply is no way – I repeat, no way – to grow an economy by increasing taxes or with reduced federal spending. Cutting the federal deficit is the sure way to sink the economy. That is true today, tomorrow, and for all time in the future.

Money is the lifeblood of our economy, and efforts to cut the federal deficit are like applying leeches to cure anemia.

Similarly, the so-called federal debt is not at all like your personal debt. The federal debt is nothing more than the total of Treasury security accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank.  In short, the so-called debt — the total of T-bills, T-notes and T-bonds — actually is bank accounts, similar to savings accounts.

Here’s a little secret. The federal government could pay off that so-called “debt” — those T-bills — tomorrow, the same way your bank pays off your savings account. The government merely could take the existing dollars in those Treasury accounts  and transfer them to the checking accounts of T-bill holders. No new dollars needed.

The so-called debt would disappear. This is something you never have been told, but it is an absolute fact.

To close the gap, between the rich and the rest of us, we should get rid of FICA, the payroll tax. It’s the worst, most regressive tax in America. Despite what you have been told, FICA does not pay for Social Security. FICA does not pay for Medicare. FICA does not pay for anything. It is nothing more than a useless – no, harmful – tax on the working class.

Even without FICA, our government has the unlimited ability to provide comprehensive, no-deductible Medicare for every man, woman and child in America. All your medical bills would be paid, and it would not cost you one cent.

And even without FICA, not just the elderly, but every American — you, your children and your grandchildren, could receive Social Security benefits, also at no cost to you.

This is not magic or pie-in-the-sky. This is economic reality — the reality that has been hidden from you all these years. FICA is an obsolete carbuncle on the neck of our economy.

Medicare and Social security are federal agencies. Like all of the thousand federal agencies – like the Department of Defense, like the Supreme Court, like the White House, like Congress itself – all federal agencies are supported in exactly the same way – by federal deficit spending.

There is no FICA for the military, there is no FICA for Congress or for the courts or for the White House. There is no FICA for the CIA or the FBI. And starting now, there should be no FICA for Social Security or for Medicare. Like every other federal agency, they simply should be supported by the federal government.

What will this accomplish? Not having to pay FICA will put money into your pockets, so you’ll be able to save more and spend more. Not having to pay FICA will put money in the pockets of businesses, large and small, so they’ll be able to invest more and hire more. And when you spend more, that will stimulate business to hire even more. And all those new hires, will spend even more – and the economy will grow toward prosperity.

In fact, unlike state taxes, which pay for state spending, and local taxes, which pay for local spending, federal taxes do not pay for any federal spending. Federal taxes can, and should, be eliminated.

We shouldn’t eliminate them all at once. Too much change, all at once, isn’t a good thing.  But we can, and should, begin to reduce taxes from the bottom up.  We should to increase the standard deduction on your income taxes, by $10,000 each year.

This means, fewer and fewer people, in the lower income groups, will have money taken from their pockets. Today the standard deduction is about $5,000. Next year it can be $15,000. The following year, $25,000.

Within ten years, no one earning less than $100,000 would pay any federal income tax at all. You’ll keep all the money you earn.

The federal government doesn’t need your money, so it shouldn’t take your money.

I know what you’re thinking: Inflation. Don’t worry about inflation. I’ll address that in the next couple of minutes. For now, think  about the money you’ll save and how that will grow our economy – and what prosperity will mean to you and to your loved ones.

Pay your rent or your mortgage. Buy food. Make a down payment on a car. Pay a college tuition. Buy clothes. Take a vacation. It’s your money.

There will be other parts to the plan, the details of which I’ll present in the future. For instance, the federal government can and should  help the states – which by the way, do not have the unlimited ability to pay their bills – help the states get out of their financial problems.

And the government can and should increase support for road and bridge repair and building, transportation, research & development, education, policing, food and drug development and inspection, and many other important functions on our march to prosperity.

What will all of this cost? I estimate about $4 trillion the first year, and even more in succeeding years. Can the government afford it? Yes, the government could afford ten times that amount. There is no limit to what the federal government can afford.

And that brings us back to the subject of inflation. Those who do not want you to prosper — the rich who want to widen the gap between them and you — they will warn you about the dangers of the government “printing” money.

In short, they will lie to you.

Visualize this: Say a fire has started in your house. You are told that if you call the fire department, they will pour water on the fire, the water could ruin your carpets.

Will you call the fire department to put out the fire, or will you hesitate for fear of ruining your carpets?

Well America, our house is on fire, and that fire – that recession from which we still have not recovered –that low employment  and poor pay — those excessive taxes and inadequate health care — they all need to be dealt with now. Not tomorrow, not next week, but now. No hesitation.

Now.

We should take care of our immediate problems immediately, and if – big IF – if we have inflation, we’ll deal with that too, and here is how:

Hillary Clinton, our next president, should tell Janet Yellen, Chair of the Fed,  “Janet, you have one assignment. It’s not to regulate the economy; it’s not to stimulate bank lending; it’s not to cure the recession. Those are my jobs. Your one assignment is very simple: Do exactly what you’re best at: Control inflation. That will be your sole focus.

“If you see inflation going above your target, do what you always have done — raise interest rates, buy and sell T-bonds, etc. —  to prevent and cure inflation. And if – another big IF – if despite all your best efforts, you still can’t control inflation, we simply will cut back on spending. But we’ll keep that in card our back pocket, to be used only if – big IF –if all the other methods you successfully have employed over the years, somehow stop working this time.”

So that’s a brief outline of my plan for prosperity. Within two weeks, I will present to America, more details of the plan.

Yes, I know. The rich and the people paid by the rich will hate this plan. They will hate the idea that you, the 99% will thrive, and the gap between the rich and the rest will shrink.

The rich and the people paid by the rich, will deliver their usual rants about the dangers of the deficit, the debt and inflation — all false. These people do not want you to prosper. They do not want you to live the beautiful lives they already live.

So they will tell you anything to keep you from success. The rich and the media and economists paid by the rich do not care about you. They want you to remain subservient to them.

Don’t let it happen.

Soon you will see the details, and when you do, demand that Congress take action. Do not allow these people to keep you from prosperity. Do not fall for the usual myths about deficits, debt and inflation. Do not buy the punishing austerity they will try to sell you.

Contact your Congressperson and tell him or her you want prosperity, not austerity.

Prosperity, not austerity. Prosperity, not austerity. That is your choice for yourself, for your children and for your grandchildren.

Prosperity, not austerity. It is yours to choose.

God bless you and God bless America.

If Bernie Sanders gives that speech, and follows it up with something resembling the Ten Steps to Prosperity (below), his legacy of greatness will far exceed that of most Presidents.

He will be remembered as the man who saved the 99% — the “Lincoln” of the middle and lower income groups.

The man who set us free from the chains of enslavement to austerity.

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 Click here
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 grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.
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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

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Recessions begin an average of 2 years after the blue line first dips below zero. A common phenomenon is for the line briefly to dip below zero, then rise above zero, before falling dramatically below zero. There was a brief dip below zero in 2015, followed by another dip – the familiar pre-recession pattern.
Recessions are cured by a rising red line.

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.

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

•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 the rest..
•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..

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY