It takes only two things to keep people in chains:
The ignorance of the oppressed
and the treachery of their leaders.
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Let us introduce this diatribe with a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB):
“Tax cuts do not pay for themselves.
They do grow the economy, but that will only cover a portion of the costs, and we should be focusing on how to broaden the tax base to make up the difference.“
Think about what she really is telling you:
- Tax cuts are good, because they grow the economy (by adding dollars to the economy).
- So we must offset those economy-growing tax cuts (for the rich 1%), by broadening the tax base (taxing the 99% more).
(In short, adding dollars to the economy is good, so subtract dollars from the economy by taxing the poor more.)
It’s all flimflam, mumbo jumbo, BS, designed for solely one purpose: To transfer money from you to the very rich.
And now, while your brain has been thoroughly washed with flimflam, mumbo jumbo, and BS, here comes Congress’s next health care plan, as excerpted from an article in the Washington Post:
Senators push ahead with ACA fix
Bipartisan group of 24 signs on, but Trump noncommittal
By Juliet Eilperin and Sean Sullivan The Washington PostWASHINGTON — Democrats pressed Thursday to advance a bipartisan bill that would preserve subsidies for low-income Americans under the Affordable Care Act amid a new show of cooperation, even as GOP leaders suggested that they would need greater concessions before bringing it up for a vote.
Translation: “Bipartisan” is a word that is meant to lull you into believing all is well, and the Senators have formed a circle, are holding hands, and singing Kumbaya.
So don’t worry. In fact, don’t even think about it, because your reasoning has been numbed.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, suggested that he was “open” to authorizing payments to insurers that help offset out-of-pocket health costs in the short term — but had not given up his goal of repealing the ACA.
Translation: When Trump says he is “open,” that means he has not thought about it, doesn’t intend to think about it, but somehow has formed a strong opinion about it — a strong opinion that will change five times, depending on what he has for lunch, today.
Whatever plan he eventually signs, will be the greatest plan in all of human history, for which he gives himself a “10,” though he doesn’t know what’s in it.
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and the ranking Democratic member, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who authored the new health care package, said it would continue the cost-sharing reduction payments, known as CSRs, in exchange for giving states greater latitude to regulate health coverage.
Translation: “Greater latitude” means the federal government won’t pay enough, so the Republican states immediately will cut benefits, and the Democratic states will try to continue the benefits, but will run out of money.
Either way, the poor and middle classes will be screwed, but that’s O.K., because it will be a bipartisan screwing.
Many conservative Republicans have expressed skepticism about legislation that would not roll back the ACA in a meaningful way.
While the bill does make it easier for states to obtain federal waivers to change the way their markets operate and allows ACA consumers age 30 and older to buy catastrophic health plans, it preserves the law’s core mandates.
Translation: Many “conservative” Republicans don’t care what is in the plan, so long as it repeals Obamacare. In GOP circles, that’s known as “protecting the people.”
And if you buy and of those so-called “catastrophic health plans,” you will find they surely are catastrophic. They offer minimal coverage and ultra-high deductibles, in exchange for lower premiums. Crap plans for crap dollars.
If you’re too poor to pay for a real health care plan, you surely will be too poor to afford those massive deductibles.
The GOP wants you to have a “choice” of plans, because you surely must know what accidents and sicknesses you will have next month or next year. After all, anyone can predict when they will be hit by a car, break a leg, or develop cancer. Right?
The president told reporters Thursday that while he prefers providing federal health funding in a block grant to states, he is open to a different approach for a finite period.
“We will probably like a very short-term solution until we hit the block grants, until that all kicks in,” he said. “And if they can do something like that, I’m open to it, but I don’t want it to be at the expense of the people. I want to take care of our people; I don’t want to take care of our insurance companies.”
Translation: Yes, the federal government never can run short of dollars; the states can and do run short of dollars. So it’s smart to save the federal government money by giving the states small block grants, which will be insufficient.
Then, as costs increase, eliminate the block grants, so the states either are driven into insolvency or are forced to eliminate health care benefits.
The richest 1% of the public will do just fine, however, because they simply will buy the best insurance or pay out-of-pocket. You are screwed, but you seem to like it.
The president has repeatedly decried the idea of paying money to insurers, which is the way cost-sharing payments are distributed.
Translation: We know the real alternative is not to pay insurance companies, but rather to pay doctors, hospitals and other health-care providers directly (“single payer”), but that would be good for the 99%. So it is unthinkable.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.Murray said she was confident that Congress would ultimately pass the measure because Americans are beginning to grasp that the impasse in Washington has translated into higher insurance rates for 2018.
Unfortunately, Americans do not know that the federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, can and should pay for a Medicare plan that covers every man, woman, and child in America.
Americans have been conned into a phony “Deficit spending is unsustainable and causes inflation” belief. They have been told federal taxes must be increased and the federal government is broke.
It’s all a damnable lie, but when a lie is told repeatedly over many, many years, few people have the mental acuity to see through it.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, took Trump to task on Thursday, saying: “It’s always best for the president to be completely consistent in terms of what he’s supporting or not supporting. And let’s face it, he’s not been particularly consistent here.”
Trump consistent? Is that a joke? The only thing he is consistent about is self-congratulations.
“Since every Democrat, I believe, will support it, it has 60 votes,” Schumer told reporters.
A broad coalition of health groups have endorsed the bill, along with a bipartisan coalition of 10 governors.
Associated Press contributed.
Translation: It’s BIPARTISAN, so it must be good. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
And now that your brain has been scrubbed clean of all logic, facts, and any ability to discern gibberish, let us move from health care to tax “reform.” Here are a few excerpts from an article in today’s Chicago Tribune:
Republicans push $4 trillion budget plan through Senate
By Andrew Taylor Associated PressWASHINGTON — Republicans on Thursday night muscled a $4 trillion budget through the Senate in a major step forward for President Donald Trump’s promise of “massive tax cuts and reform.”
As always, the President has no idea what is in the bill — there is no bill, yet — but he is all for it, and you can be sure it will be the greatest tax bill ever to be created by human hand.
The 51-49 vote sets the stage for debate later this year to overhaul the U.S. tax code for the first time in three decades, cutting rates for individuals and corporations while eliminating trillions of dollars of deductions and special interest tax breaks.
The tax cuts would add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the coming decade, however, as Republicans have shelved fears about the growing budget deficit in favor of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rewrite tax laws.
Translation: The sole purpose of the vote was to prevent a Democratic filibuster that might prevent a GOP giveaway to the rich.
The Republican bill, when it is written, absolutely, positively will transfer dollars from you to the richest 1%. This is my guarantee to you.
(And I, being in the favored 1% group, wish to thank you suckers for your generosity.)
The upcoming tax measure has taken on even greater urgency with the failure of the party to carry out its long-standing promise to dismantle former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
Republicans have said failure on taxes would be politically devastating in next year’s midterm elections, when control of the House and Senate are at stake.
Translation: “We don’t care what is in the bill, so long as we can pass something, anything, that we can sell to the gullible American public. Elections are far more important than actually doing something worthwhile.”
The House measure calls for a tax plan that wouldn’t add to the deficit, as well as $200 billion worth of cuts to benefit programs that the Senate has rejected.
Translation: As Maya MacGuineas said, tax cuts grow the economy. She is right. Tax cuts do grow the economy by leaving more dollars in the economy.
So why would any “honest politician” (O.K., laugh now) propose a tax program that doesn’t add to the deficit, when it is the deficit that adds dollars to the economy?
In reality, it’s not the tax cuts that grow the economy; it’s the deficit spending that grows the economy.
“. . . it’s a right-wing fantasy document that paves the way for trillions of dollars in handouts to big corporations and the wealthy,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee.
Translation: The GOP gives to the rich; the rich give to the GOP. Too bad you’re not rich, sucker.
Only one Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the budget. He said the measure permits too much spending and abandons the GOP drive to repeal the Obama health law.
Translation: Rand Paul says the budget doesn’t cut Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and other poverty aids enough. You suckers get too much from the government. A little starvation will cleanse your soul.
“The American people are sick and tired of Congress spending recklessly with no end in sight,” Paul said.
This year’s measure calls for $473 billion in cuts from Medicare over 10 years and more than $1 trillion from Medicaid.
All told, Senate Republicans would cut spending by more than $5 trillion over a decade, though they don’t attempt to spell out where the cuts would come from.
Translation: The government says you suckers are sick and tired of receiving so much from Social Security, Medicare et al. You want to receive fewer benefits, and you want the rich to receive more. It’s only fair, isn’t it?
Republicans vow that the tax plan would result in a burst of economic growth that will add enough tax revenue to make up for the ambitious rate cuts.
Most experts dismiss such promises, however, and Congress’ official scorekeepers agree with them.
The Republicans never change. Remember “Reaganomics” and the “Laffer curve.” Like zombies, they have risen from the dead.
They too, promised that tax cuts would cause enough economic growth to increase tax collections and to balance the budget. Thankfully, that never happened, for if it did, the increased taxes would have tanked the economy.
The Bottom Line
The pols believe you are a sucker, but because suckers never realize they are suckers, the pols rely on you denying it.
Further, the pols believe you are so stupid, that if someone tells you the truth, you will angrily and sarcastically fight to retain your ignorance. By repeating lies, again and again, the pols think they have sold you on at least 41 myths about our economy, probably more.
So to any of you who are suckers, don’t know you’re suckers, deny you’re suckers, and who angrily defend your “suckerness,” I only can say, “Thank you.”
Sometime in the next few months, Congress will pass, and the President will sign, laws that screw you and benefit me. And while I am raking in the benefits that really belong to you, some of you suckers will tell me I’m wrong.
Hey, I can take it. Thanks to Congress, Trump and I will take it “bigly.”
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty
Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
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The 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 (Economic Bonus)) 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 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.
MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 