John Kass, Chicago Tribune’s gossip columnist says he’s is not a hater; he’s a loather. Huh?

John Kass is the gossip editor for the Chicago Tribune, masquerading as an independent observer of the passing scene.

He is as right-wing as it gets, and should have his column on the Tribune’s editorial page. Instead, the conservative Tribune cleverly slots it on page two, where it receives 1/2 page, above the fold. He preaches against gun control, against pro-choice and against federal debt.

He recently wrote, “A guy that rich can’t be bought.” He meant, rich people are more honest than middle-class people. Really.

Here are a few excerpts from today’s column, in which Kass tells gullible readers why he knows the law better than FBI Director James Comey, a lifelong Republican, whom GOP officials have repeatedly praised for his honesty.

Hillary Clinton Disqualifies Herself

(Hillary Clinton’s) server was likely hacked by foreign intelligence. She failed, miserably, in protecting the secrets of her nation.

“Likely” hacked?  Why likely? No evidence has surfaced, which presumably is why Kass was forced to use the word “likely,” just as gossip columnists do.

The only evidence may be his belief that all government servers get hacked (in which case, it really doesn’t matter which server she used, does it?)

And, she lied to the American people. That much is clear. She lied about what she did and how and why. There are tapes of it floating all about on the internet, lies to reporters, lies in those rare public appearances where she actually takes questions.

We already know how much Republicans hate lying, just ask Donald Trump about “Lyin” Ted Cruz.”  Trump also called Marco Rubio a bigger liar than Cruz; he said Dr. Ben Carson is a pathological liar and Jeb Bush’s lies were as bad as Cruz’s.

Which brings us to the endless lies of  Donald Trump, a man whom Kass apparently believes is qualified to be President, since Kass mentions only Clinton as being “unqualified.”

Comey also confirmed that she allowed her lawyers — who didn’t have security clearance — to view and assess her vast store of incriminating emails.

Here is what FBI Director Comey said about that “vast store of incrimination Emails” and all those lies Kass refers to: “We have no basis to believe she lied to the FBI.“  Comey said there were only three messages – each of which were not properly marked classified when she received them.

Wow, three messages, and none of them were classified when she received them.  That’s the “vast store of incriminating Emails”??

And remember, this came from Comey, a Republican, respected by the GOP as honest, and who has nothing to fear from Clinton or from a lame-duck President Obama.

Clinton did all this not in the national interest, but in the Hillary interest.

It was all done to keep her presidential candidacy viable. History will tell our children what we already know, that it was always all about Hillary.

And so, it follows, logically, that Mrs. Clinton cannot be president.

Apparently, Kass’s logic is this: If you run for President and have your best interests at heart, you cannot be President.

Hmmm . . . now which Presidential candidate in history has been so pure of soul?  Can you think of any?

But I do feel better about Kass’s total lack of knowledge, based on this:

I’m certain that many will denounce me as a Clinton-Hater. But hate by definition is irrational, and so I reject the hater diagnosis.

Instead, I’m probably something of a Clinton-Loather.

Doesn’t that make you respect his uninformed opinion, more? He doesn’t hate her; he loathes her. Got it.

And I’ve had years of watching the Clintons lie and dissemble and tell partial truths and get away with it, and take advantage of the principles of honorable men such as James Comey.

Notice, how the Hillary Clinton haters (er, uh, “loathers”) always include Bill, so as to “pad the list,” so to speak. Because as everyone knows, a wife always is the same as her husband (which is why the wife always is to blame for wife-beatings and wife-cheatings. Right?)

And exactly how is an honorable man like James Comey “taken advantage of.” What power does Hillary have over him?

And since he admittedly is honorable, why does Kass think Comey is lying to Congress? That would make Comey dishonorable, wouldn’t it?

Actually, I’m a Bernie Sanders man (except for his policy on Israel), but Bernie apparently is out of the running, and I may be foolish, but not so foolish as to believe Trump is qualified to be President.

Read Kass’s foaming-at-the-mouth loathing-based editorial uh, reasoned article, and you will see that “Emailgate” it is yet another in a series of Republican “gates” that included “Obamacaregate,” and Congress’s endless votes to eliminate it without having a replacement idea.

And then there was “Benghazigate,” the Congressional, massive waste of time and money, which uncovered nothing and proved nothing except the abject stupidity of many Congressional investigations.

And now we have “Emailgate,” Congress’s disgraceful attempt to impeach the honest, Republican FBI director.

Most hatreds — black hatred, Jew hatred, Catholic hatred, Mexican hatred, Muslim hatred, Irish hatred,  Italian hatred, French hatred, New York Yankee hatred — result from the human desire to blame someone for our fears and miseries.

Yet, ask any haters why they hate, and they will invent “good” reasons, which upon inspection prove to be excuses for ignorance.

(It gets so nonsensical, that one of my own friends blamed Hillary for staying with Bill after he cheated on her.  My friend felt that disqualified her. Yikes!)

The bottom line is that Hillary is both human and ambitious to be President. As a human, she has foibles, though fewer than many candidates I’ve seen in my 81 years.

She is smart and experienced, but is far more right-wing than I prefer, and tells lies, though fewer than most other candidates do.

In short, she isn’t perfect,  but short of getting Bernie (who also isn’t perfect) I’m left with her.

As for ambitious to be President, that’s what I want. It’s a tough job, and I sure don’t want someone who isn’t motivated to do it.

(Recently, Trump indicated he might not accept the Presidency, even if he won.)

In the several companies I’ve owned, I personally have hired thousands of people, and one of my criteria was: How much does this person want the job?

You can hate Hillary, and I’m sure you have selected “good” reasons for your hatred, but when election time comes, vote for Hillary or find the candidate who doesn’t have her human faults and ambition.

Good luck with that one.

=Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
Although the article lists 10 reasons to eliminate FICA, there are two fundamental reasons:
*FICA is the most regressive tax in American history, widening the Gap by punishing the low and middle-income groups, while leaving the rich untouched, and
*The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses FICA to support Social Security and Medicare.
2. FEDERALLY FUNDED MEDICARE — PARTS A, B & D, PLUS LONG TERM CARE — FOR EVERYONE (H.R. 676, Medicare for All )
This article addresses the questions:
*Does the economy benefit when the rich afford better health care than the rest of Americans?
*Aside from improved health care, what are the other economic effects of “Medicare for everyone?”
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”
3. PROVIDE AN ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA, AND/OR EVERY STATE, A PER CAPITA ECONOMIC BONUS (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:

Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Employer of Last Resort is a bad idea. Sunday, Jan 1 2012
MMT’s Job Guarantee (JG) — “Another crazy, rightwing, Austrian nutjob?” Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Jobs Guarantee is like the EU’s euro: A beloved solution to the wrong problem. Tuesday, May 29 2012
“You can’t fire me. I’m on JG” Saturday, Jun 2 2012

Economic growth should include the “bottom” 99.9%, not just the .1%, the only question being, how best to accomplish that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) favors giving everyone a job. Monetary Sovereignty (MS) favors giving everyone money. The five articles describe the pros and cons of each approach.
4. FREE EDUCATION (INCLUDING POST-GRAD) FOR EVERYONEFive reasons why we should eliminate school loans
Monetarily non-sovereign State and local governments, despite their limited finances, support grades K-12. That level of education may have been sufficient for a largely agrarian economy, but not for our currently more technical economy that demands greater numbers of highly educated workers.
Because state and local funding is so limited, grades K-12 receive short shrift, especially those schools whose populations come from the lowest economic groups. And college is too costly for most families.
An educated populace benefits a nation, and benefiting the nation is the purpose of the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for K-16 and beyond.
5. SALARY FOR ATTENDING SCHOOL
Even were schooling to be completely free, many young people cannot attend, because they and their families cannot afford to support non-workers. In a foundering boat, everyone needs to bail, and no one can take time off for study.
If a young person’s “job” is to learn and be productive, he/she should be paid to do that job, especially since that job is one of America’s most important.
6. ELIMINATE CORPORATE TAXES
Corporations themselves exist only as legalities. They don’t pay taxes or pay for anything else. They are dollar-tranferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the government (the later having no use for those dollars).
Any tax on corporations reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all corporate taxes come around and reappear as deductions from your personal income.
7. INCREASE THE STANDARD INCOME TAX DEDUCTION, ANNUALLY. (Refer to this.) Federal taxes punish taxpayers and harm the economy. The federal government has no need for those punishing and harmful tax dollars. There are several ways to reduce taxes, and we should evaluate and choose the most progressive approaches.
Cutting FICA and corporate taxes would be an good early step, as both dramatically affect the 99%. Annual increases in the standard income tax deduction, and a reverse income tax also would provide benefits from the bottom up. Both would narrow the Gap.
8. TAX THE VERY RICH (THE “.1%) MORE, WITH HIGHER PROGRESSIVE TAX RATES ON ALL FORMS OF INCOME. (TROPHIC CASCADE)
There was a time when I argued against increasing anyone’s federal taxes. After all, the federal government has no need for tax dollars, and all taxes reduce Gross Domestic Product, thereby negatively affecting the entire economy, including the 99.9%.
But I have come to realize that narrowing the Gap requires trimming the top. It simply would not be possible to provide the 99.9% with enough benefits to narrow the Gap in any meaningful way. Bill Gates reportedly owns $70 billion. To get to that level, he must have been earning $10 billion a year. Pick any acceptable Gap (1000 to 1?), and the lowest paid American would have to receive $10 million a year. Unreasonable.
9. FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF ALL BANKS (Click The end of private banking and How should America decide “who-gets-money”?)
Banks have created all the dollars that exist. Even dollars created at the direction of the federal government, actually come into being when banks increase the numbers in checking accounts. This gives the banks enormous financial power, and as we all know, power corrupts — especially when multiplied by a profit motive.
Although the federal government also is powerful and corrupted, it does not suffer from a profit motive, the world’s most corrupting influence.
10. INCREASE FEDERAL SPENDING ON THE MYRIAD INITIATIVES THAT BENEFIT AMERICA’S 99.9% (Federal agencies)Browse the agencies. See how many agencies benefit the lower- and middle-income/wealth/ power groups, by adding dollars to the economy and/or by actions more beneficial to the 99.9% than to the .1%.
Save this reference as your primer to current economics. Sadly, much of the material is not being taught in American schools, which is all the more reason for you to use it.

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY