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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. It takes only two things to keep people in chains: The ignorance of the oppressedand the treachery of their leaders..
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I hesitate to call it “Trumpcare,” since there is zero possibility Donald Trump understands or even cares what’s in it. There is nothing in the program impacting him or his rich kids.
(Of course, President Obama didn’t know what was in Obamacare, and Governor Romney probably didn’t know what was in Romneycare, either.)
Now that we have discussed Presidential ignorance, let’s get to the real subject of this post: Congressional and voter ignorance.
To introduce the three main Trumpcare problems, we’ll begin with excerpts from an article in NBC News:
The Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would leave 24 million more Americans without health insurance by 2026 than under current law, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO report found that 14 million more people would be without health insurance by 2018.
So that is problem #1. Millions more of our poorest men, women, and children would lose healthcare insurance, meaning millions more would do without healthcare, and millions more would be unnecessarily sick, and millions more would suffer harsh lives until they die too early.
Lack of compassion aside, this adversely affects all of us economically. Sick people are absent more from work and are less productive when present. Not only is efficiency reduced but as sicknesses are untreated, they become more serious and an even greater drag on the economy.
The result is insidious. You won’t be able to detect the economic loss ill health costs our nation, but you unknowingly will experience it. Economists will search for reasons why the economy isn’t growing fast enough, or even is shrinking, but they probably will fail to understand that ill health is one reason.
Following a two-year spike, the plan would also lower average premiums after 2020 relative to President Barack Obama’s healthcare law. But premiums would be expected to go down for younger people, while being raised for older Americans.
And that is problem #2. Older people have more illnesses than do the younger, and often have less income with which to purchase private insurance. Older people are more likely to have pre-existing conditions which make insurance more difficult to obtain.Your parents and grandparents would be left to sicken and suffer miserable, preventable early deaths.
Trumpcare would leave your parents and grandparents to sicken and suffer miserable, preventable, early deaths.
The nonpartisan projection also estimates the GOP legislation would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion by 2026.
That is problem #3. Federal deficits would be reduced. But federal deficits are the means by which the federal government grows the economy. When deficit growth is reduced, the economy falls into recession and depressions.
Recessions (gray bars) tend to result from reductions in deficit growth and are cured by increases in deficit growth (aka “stimulus.”)
Growing economies require a growing supply of money, and deficits increase the money supply as the following formula indicates:
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports
Additionally, U.S. depressions tend to come on the heels of federal surpluses:.
1804-1812: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 48%. Depression began 1807.
1817-1821: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 29%. Depression began 1819.
1823-1836: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 99%. Depression began 1837.
1852-1857: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 59%. Depression began 1857.
1867-1873: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 27%. Depression began 1873.
1880-1893: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 57%. Depression began 1893.
1920-1930: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 36%. Depression began 1929.
1997-2001: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 15%. Recession began 2001.
By spending more and taxing less (i.e. running deficits) the federal government adds stimulus dollars to the economy. Businesses and their employees prosper when the government buys goods and services from them and taxes them less. (Classic example: Federal military spending increases employment and profits in the armaments industry.)
White House officials dismissed the conclusions of the report by arguing the agency took too narrow of a view when grading the legislation.
“We disagree strenuously with the report that was put out,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told reporters gathered outside the White House.
Translation: “We disagree with the irrefutable facts that we knew the CBO would uncover. That is why we began to criticize the report even before it was released.
“We knew that millions of people would lose coverage but that is exactly what we wanted to happen because we, the Party of the Rich, want the Gap between the rich and the rest, widened.
“(It’s the Gap that makes them rich. Without the Gap, no one would be rich — we all would be the same — and the wider the Gap, the richer they are.”)
Advocates of the legislation began bracing for bad news ahead of the CBO’s release.
The GOP plan’s elimination of the government requirement to purchase insurance all but guaranteed the projection that fewer Americans would be covered.
Translation: The GOP knew it was a bad plan, and they knew the CBO would reveal it as a bad plan, so they began to fight the CBO even before the report was released.
The GOP will counter with infamous “alternative facts,” to convince you that less coverage actually is more coverage, and that President Trump cares about you.
The Trump administration, which supports the plan, has argued that the CBO was ill-equipped to grade legislation with such a massive scope.
“I love the folks at the CBO, they work really hard. They do. Sometimes we ask them to do stuff that they’re not capable of doing,” White House Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney said.
Translation: “Who do you trust to provide an honest budget report, the independent Congressional Budget office, which does this all the time or Trump and his Republicans, who decided 7 years ago to destroy anything Obama?”
The projection only further complicates the already shaky chances the legislation passes. Democrats stand ready to pounce on GOP lawmakers for advocating for a plan that could lead to less Americans having health insurance.
Conservative members of Congress, however, oppose the legislation for not quickly enough repealing the major tenets of Obama’s healthcare law, like Medicaid benefits.
Translation: Republicans want to prevent the poorest among us from receiving health care, either via Obamacare or via Medicaid.
Party of the Rich has been bribed by the rich (via campaign contributions) to widen the Gap.
“I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we’re going through,” Price said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday.
Translation: “No one will be worse off financially, except for the poor and the elderly people who will lose government assistance. We in Congress will do just fine because we have great healthcare insurance policies, plus we gets lots of money for doing what the rich tell us to do.”
“They’ll have choices that they can select the kind of coverage that they want for themselves and for their family, not the government forces them to buy.”
Translation: We’ll have choices about how to survive once our healthcare insurance is taken away. To pay our doctor, hospital, and medicine bills we can choose: Doing without food, doing without housing, doing without medical care, doing without education for our kids — and doesn’t everyone relish having those choices?”
About 2.8 million uninsured Americans fall into the “Medicaid Gap”
With their 2012 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion optional to the states. To date, 31 states have chosen to expand, covering more low-income residents than previously would have qualified.
But many states have not expanded coverage — including those with large numbers of uninsured citizens, like Texas and Florida.
Most of the South hasn’t expanded Medicaid, as a large swath of red on the map below shows.
The federal government gave the states billions of dollars to expand Medicaid, but even that wasn’t enough to overcome the right-wing commitment to punishing the poor.
Bottom line: The GOP long has wanted to destroy the Affordable Care Act, because it doesn’t do enough for the upper-income groups (even though it stimulates economic growth).
The right wing has put forth a plan that takes health care from millions of our poorest and our elderly, while reducing economic growth.
They want you to believe the ridiculous proposition that it is more important for our Monetarily Sovereignfederal government (which never can run short of dollars) to save money, than for you, the public, to save money and have good health in a growing economy.
The single most important problems in economics involve the excessive income/wealth/power Gaps between the have-mores and the have-less.
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of The Ten Steps To Prosperity can narrow the Gaps:
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 can afford better health care than can 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 A MONTHLY ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA (similar to Social Security for All) (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB (Guaranteed Income)) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:
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 EVERYONE Five 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 benefitting 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 FEDERAL TAXES ON BUSINESS
Businesses are dollar-transferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the federal government (the later having no use for those dollars). Any tax on businesses reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all business taxes reduce 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 business taxes would be a 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.
2 thoughts on “The three biggest problems with Trumpcare”
The best way to attack a problem- A Solution that fixes it.
*****
“It’s time to rewrite the rules―to curb the runaway flow of wealth to the top one percent, to restore security and opportunity for the middle class, and to foster stronger growth rooted in broadly shared prosperity.”( Economic Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz)
“TAXPAYER INCOME REVENUE PRODUCING ASSETS” ( T.I.R.P.A. )
Increase……. Wages, Jobs, the Standard of Living.
Decrease…… National Debt, Poverty, Inequality Gaps.
It sounds great; but even more important, it not only pays for itself; it reduces national debt !
Time for American innovation to solve our problems, focus on investments-smart investments which will improve growth and pay for itself.
Not a bailout.
Not a cost to all the taxpayers.
Not an increase in deficit spending.
Rather a magic economic proven golden bullet.
( T.I.R.P.A. )
The FEDS made direct purchase of bank assets.The Fed has already proven that it can do this; with a profit to the US Treasury and with no increase in the debt (it is an asset purchase).
We must have Congress legislate that the Federal Reserve Bank shall make purchases of Public State Bonds For Infrastructure (PSBFI).
Each state will have as a member of the Federal Reserve a pubic state bank along with one additional member for the District of Columbia.
Each member (Public State Bank) will be entitled to issue $1 billion per electoral vote. All bonds will have the same terms and conditions and will be made available for purchase by the Federal Reserve for that year of issue.
All PSBFI’s will have a term of 20 years with the payment conditions as follows:
Each dollar face value will be sold at a twenty-five percent (25%) discount to the Fed.
There will be no interest charges.
The entire bond will have 20 equal payments due each year.
The T.I.R.P.A. BONDS will act as a line of credit: after 360 days of each annual
payment; that amount will be available to each entity with the same terms and conditions.
( T.I.R.P.A. )for Universal Healthcare
Federal government to deposit $538 BILLION in Public State Banks for its asset purchase of $674.5 Billion of State Medicare, Medicaid Relief Bonds with a term of 20 years with equal annual payments. Each state shall deem when funds are to be dispersed. The allocation shall be based upon the fair and just system: $1 billion per electoral vote. This amount will be available as a line of credit.
Ex., DC has $3 billion available ($1b X 3 Electoral votes).
THE BOND NOTE WILL READ $4.5 Billion with a $2.25 million annual payment for
20 years.
This will allow DC after 360 days of payment to borrow $169.75 million by selling the Fed a TIRPA 20/Yr Bond Face value $225 million.
It sounds great; but even more important, it not only pays for itself;
it reduces national debt !
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 
The best way to attack a problem- A Solution that fixes it.
*****
“It’s time to rewrite the rules―to curb the runaway flow of wealth to the top one percent, to restore security and opportunity for the middle class, and to foster stronger growth rooted in broadly shared prosperity.”( Economic Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz)
“TAXPAYER INCOME REVENUE PRODUCING ASSETS” ( T.I.R.P.A. )
Increase……. Wages, Jobs, the Standard of Living.
Decrease…… National Debt, Poverty, Inequality Gaps.
It sounds great; but even more important, it not only pays for itself; it reduces national debt !
Time for American innovation to solve our problems, focus on investments-smart investments which will improve growth and pay for itself.
Not a bailout.
Not a cost to all the taxpayers.
Not an increase in deficit spending.
Rather a magic economic proven golden bullet.
( T.I.R.P.A. )
The FEDS made direct purchase of bank assets.The Fed has already proven that it can do this; with a profit to the US Treasury and with no increase in the debt (it is an asset purchase).
We must have Congress legislate that the Federal Reserve Bank shall make purchases of Public State Bonds For Infrastructure (PSBFI).
Each state will have as a member of the Federal Reserve a pubic state bank along with one additional member for the District of Columbia.
Each member (Public State Bank) will be entitled to issue $1 billion per electoral vote. All bonds will have the same terms and conditions and will be made available for purchase by the Federal Reserve for that year of issue.
All PSBFI’s will have a term of 20 years with the payment conditions as follows:
Each dollar face value will be sold at a twenty-five percent (25%) discount to the Fed.
There will be no interest charges.
The entire bond will have 20 equal payments due each year.
The T.I.R.P.A. BONDS will act as a line of credit: after 360 days of each annual
payment; that amount will be available to each entity with the same terms and conditions.
( T.I.R.P.A. )for Universal Healthcare
Federal government to deposit $538 BILLION in Public State Banks for its asset purchase of $674.5 Billion of State Medicare, Medicaid Relief Bonds with a term of 20 years with equal annual payments. Each state shall deem when funds are to be dispersed. The allocation shall be based upon the fair and just system: $1 billion per electoral vote. This amount will be available as a line of credit.
Ex., DC has $3 billion available ($1b X 3 Electoral votes).
THE BOND NOTE WILL READ $4.5 Billion with a $2.25 million annual payment for
20 years.
This will allow DC after 360 days of payment to borrow $169.75 million by selling the Fed a TIRPA 20/Yr Bond Face value $225 million.
It sounds great; but even more important, it not only pays for itself;
it reduces national debt !
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“Decrease…… National Debt,”
“reduces national debt”
“Not a cost to all the taxpayers.”
“a profit to the US Treasury and with no increase in the debt ”
Oh, dear Lord. And this from a man who repeatedly claims he understands Monetary Sovereignty.
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