Either by ignorance or intent, those opposed to anything progressive, paint every government spending initiative as “socialism.”
So let’s begin by erasing that bit of misdirection:
Merriam Webster, Definition of socialism
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
In short, socialism means government ownership and administration, not merely government spending and aid.
One would think (hope) that the media would understand that before writing negative articles about America’s so-called “socialism,” but the desire to misinform the public on behalf of the rich 1% seems eternal.
Here are excerpts and comments from a typically wrongheaded article from the 7/27/18 issue of the Chicago Tribune:
Spoiled children of America drawn to socialism
Cal Thomas
For the current generation, it appears one thing is more seductive than sex — and that’s socialism.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, winner of a New York Democratic primary, are the old and new faces of socialist America.
Their platforms, it appears, hinge on the concept of shared wealth — in other words, handing out free stuff to just about everyone.
Not only does Mr. Thomas express his disdain for fact by claiming “the current generation” is “socialist,” but he also exhibits disdain for narrowing the Gap between the rich and the rest.
He and the rich, dislike “shared wealth.” In his dystopian world, the poor should stay poor, or perhaps become even poorer. How dare they wish for more?
And seemingly, only the rich deserve “free stuff” in the form of massive tax breaks and business subsidies, unavailable to us of the riffraff.
Note to Mr. Thomas: “Free stuff” is not “socialism.” Free stuff is what the federal government provides to the populace, every time it deficit spends.
1. The “free stuff” includes military protection, roads, dams, and bridges, research and development, along with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, aids to education, poverty aids, and thousands of other benefits that provide the reasons for the government to exist.
2. The “free” part comes from the fact that our federal government is Monetarily Sovereign. It has the unlimited ability to create its sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar. The federal government never can run short of dollars.
(If you doubt this, try to learn how many dollars the federal government has.)
Thus, it does not need to ask anyone for the dollars it creates at will. It doesn’t need to ask you for tax dollars and it doesn’t need to ask China for dollars. And when the government receives those dollars, it doesn’t use them.
3. And merely handing out or spending dollars is not “socialism.”It is what the federal government is designed to do. It is the way government functions.
Mr. Thomas’s primary concern seems to be that the not-rich 99% might receive a decent share of federal spending. But rather than honestly stating that concern, he hangs the “socialism” pejorative on it.
Continuing with excerpts from his article.
How far we’ve come from JFK’s admonition not to ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
Today, for many, it’s all about what you should expect from your country with little or no reciprocity.
JFK’s admonition was silly on its face. Government is a collection of laws — a tool invented by people.
The entire purpose of government is to benefit people.
Kennedy’s overly poetic line is akin to saying, “Ask not what your hammer can do for you; ask what you can do for your hammer.” Or perhaps more accurately, “Ask not what the law can do for you; ask what you can do for the law.”
In a word, senseless.
And yes, the tool should not expect or be given “reciprocity.”
It is undeniable that capitalism has raised more boats than socialism has sunk. Yet, socialism’s appeal continues, despite historical and contemporary evidence that it delivers a bad deal for those who embrace it.
Every government has some elements of socialism, i.e government ownership and control. The federal government owns and controls the military, the FBI, CIA, federal highways, NASA, and a good deal of acreage, particularly in the West.
But those comprise only a small part of the giant U.S. economy, and are a long, long way from a “socialist” government.
In an article for Reason magazine in May, Steve Chapman, a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune, referenced a University of Chicago GenForward Survey of Americans, ages 18 to 34.
The survey found that “62 percent believe we need a strong government to handle today’s complex economic problems.” Only 35 percent said “the free market can handle these problems without government being involved.”
Anyone who thinks “the free market can handle complex economic problems without the government being involved,” is a fool.
Is there any time in human history when the anarchy, Mr. Thomas seemingly favors, has benefitted the people?
The survey, noted Chapman, found that “Overall, 49 percent hold a favorable view of capitalism — and 45 percent have a positive view of socialism,” with socialism scoring higher approval among African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans.
Note the typical, right-wing dig at those “lazy” African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans.
Sixty-one percent of Democrats have a positive view of socialism, which is not surprising, while 25 percent of Republicans favor it, which is a surprise.
Nothing is surprising when people are asked questions about something of which they know nothing. The respondents were random people, 18 to 34. What percent of those young people know what “socialism” and “capitalism” are?
It is a ridiculous survey, comparable to asking 18-34-year-olds whether they would prefer a “noocracy” or a “kritarchy.” The sole effect is to demonstrate the ignorance of economics lingo by an age group’s (if one can call 18-34 a “group”) .
Continuing with the article:
I have at least three takeaways from this.
Mr. Thomas’s “spoiled rotten” poor who, seduced by socialism, have not sacrificed blood, sweat and tears.
The first is that it’s likely most of those who favor socialism have never lived in a country where it is practiced.
A few months in Venezuela might be the perfect cure.
Second, people who claim to prefer socialism to capitalism are probably reaping capitalism’s benefits.
This group of misinformed comrades includes parents who gave their pampered millennials a lifestyle they likely would never have enjoyed under a socialist regime.
The third takeaway is that those who favor socialism over capitalism and socialist countries over America are spoiled rotten.
They are part of a generation that has never had to serve in the military and, I would venture to guess, do not know anyone who is serving or has served, other than maybe a grandparent, whose values many seem to have rejected.
People seduced by socialism have likely not had to sacrifice much for their country.
They seem to take it for granted that the freedoms they enjoy, even the freedom to believe in a political and economic system that is anti-freedom, dropped from the sky and were not achieved by the hard work, blood, sweat and tears (which they think is the name of an old rock group) of others.
I have three takeaways from Mr. Thomas’s rant;
First he, like the respondents, not only has no idea what socialism is, so to claim that Americans actually want socialism is disingenuous. No Americans want a government similar to the dysfunctional, Venezuelan government — and Thomas surely knows it.
Second, Mr. Thomas strangely equates economics knowledge with serving in the military and with not being “spoiled rotten.”
I do not know what percent of U.S. soldiers understand the true meaning of socialism, though if they did, they would understand that they receive their pay and instructions from the most socialist organization in America — completely owned, funded, and administered by the federal government.
I also do not know why Mr. Thomas considers soldiers less “anti-freedom,” and less “spoiled rotten” than the rest of America’s workers.
Soldiers do exactly as they are directed and live exactly where they are told, and in return are given room, board, and education.How “free” and “unspoiled” is that?
Third, Mr. Thomas seems to think that people receiving benefits from the government do not have the moral right to those benefits, because they have not worked hard nor sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears.
Really? Yes, that is the right-wing mantra: The poor don’t work as hard as the rich. Does it get any more foolish than that?
And finally, we come to the typical right-wing, pseudo-moralistic rant about the poor receiving federal benefits:
Socialism stifles incentive and makes people dependent on government, not themselves, which appears to be the liberal ideal.
Some would rather get a check than earn one. Look at the TV ads advertising toll-free numbers, free shipping and other free incentives, which are not free at all. Their cost is simply added to the product you purchase.
It’s enlightening to learn that self-reliant Mr. Thomas does not depend on government. Apparently, he will refuse protection from our military and from his local police and fire departments, and from the CIA, FBI, NSA et al.
He will refuse Social Security benefits and Medicare benefits. He will refuse to ride on the highways, streets, and roads built by governments. He will not take medicines or eat foods judged safe by government agencies.
He will not fly in airplanes, because they all are supervised by a federal agency. His children will not attend school grades 1 – 12, most of which are government owned and directed. Nor will any attend federal military colleges.
He will refuse FDIC protection for his money, and indeed, he will not use U.S. dollars, for they are created by the federal government.
And of course, he never, never will use a toll-free number or accept that free shipping he loathes.
The list goes on and on about all the things Mr. Thomas will forego to maintain his unique, manly, and moral self-reliance.
And just when you believe his nonsense has reached its apex, Mr. Thomas ends his article with a bit more:
Socialism is little more than mutually shared poverty, a version of “spreading the wealth around” with government taking from the productive and giving to the nonproductive.
Progressivism is not socialism, and absolutely is none of the above. Rather than mutually shared poverty, it is mutually shared prosperity. (See The Ten Steps to Prosperity.) It does not involve the government taking from the productive (presumably the 1%) and giving to the nonproductive (we folks of the 99%.)
But Mr. Thomas acts clueless about that, though at the very end of his article, he makes one good point:
Do Democrats really want to embrace socialism heading into the next two elections? If so, they can expect the same defeats they have suffered in the past — think George McGovern and Walter Mondale.
Each thought the American people were taxed too little and that big government was the answer.
It isn’t, and it never will be.
Tribune Content Agency
caeditors@tribpub.com
Messrs. McGovern and Mondale were not socialists, nor did they think the American people were taxed too little, two common, right-wing lies.
This does not require increasing federal taxes for the simple reason that federal taxes do not fund federal spending.
Because the federal government cannot run short of U.S. dollars, it does not need taxes. Even if all federal taxes were $0, the federal government could continue spending forever.
But Mr. Thomas is right about one thing: The public has been misled, and does not understand the meaning of “socialism,” “capitalism,” and “Monetary Sovereignty.”
So progressives wrongly are tarred with the “socialist” label, which costs them votes.
Lying that federal benefits are socialism is the way the wealthy keep the 99% down, and Mr. Thomas is just a pawn in their chess game.
The GINI ratio measures income inequality. Higher ratio = more inequality. US inequality is the highest in 50 years, and perhaps ever.
In summary, equating progressivism with socialism is a Big Lie, the sole purpose of which is to widen the Gap between the rich and the rest.
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.
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 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.
Air pollution kills 7 million people a year, worldwide. In the US, the figure is about 200,000. Most of us will die earlier from the toll it takes on our health.
Filthy air killed half a million people in Europe prematurely in 2014. So says a report on air quality from the European Environment Agency.
Reuters: Air pollution linked to asthma in children and teens
Nitrogen dioxide, mostly from vehicle exhausts, cut short an estimated 78,000 livesacross the same 41 countries.
“Heart disease and stroke are the most common reasons for premature death attributable to air pollution, and are responsible for 80 percent of cases,” the report says.
Air pollution also contributes to other respiratory diseases and cancer, and has non-lethal impacts on diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, pregnancy and brain development in children.
The UK saw many premature deaths from exposure to nitrogen dioxide: about 14,000. This was compounded by widespread use of diesel fuel in vehicles.
Summary: Air pollution sickens and kills, adults and children.
For automakers, it could create years of uncertainty over which standards their cars must meet.
From 9/1/17, new cars must pass stricter emissions tests before they can be driven on European roads.
“These were issues that were resolved 9 years ago, and it’s almost like picking at a scab that healed long ago and reopening it, only to cause the automakers a lot of bleeding,” said Simon Mui, a senior scientist and clean vehicles specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.
The administration will propose stopping planned increases in fuel efficiency after 2020 and challenging California’s unique ability to set its own auto air pollution standards.
Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia also follow California’s emission standards.
Since 1970, California has had under the federal Clean Air Act the ability to set air pollution standards that are more stringent than the federal government’s. Although the state initially used that power to regulate smog-causing pollutants, it has become a key weapon in the state’s fight against climate change.
President Barack Obama took California’s standards nationwide. So California’s standards are now in sync with the federal government’s. Trump has made rolling back Obama’s environmental and climate programs a high priority.
An annual report issued this month by the California Air Resources Board found that California has already met its 2020 goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels. State law now calls for slashing emissions another 40 percent by 2030.
“In California, transportation has been the only sector where emissions have been flat or even going up, so this is very important,” said Daniel Sperling, a member of the Air Resources Board and founding director of UC Davis’ Institute of Transportation Studies. “By simple math, if we don’t get the substantial reductions from vehicles, we’ll have to get them from industry or some other way.”
The administration’s actions could place automakers in a bind.
Shortly after President Trump’s election, an auto industry lobbying group sent him a letter asking for more flexibility in the fuel-mileage program. But the prospect of an across-the-board freeze — and another protracted fight between California and the federal government — appears to have unnerved the industry. Top executives of Ford, for example, spoke out this spring against a rollback.
And a long legal fight between the state and federal governments could make it difficult for the automakers to plan, since the process of designing, engineering and introducing a new car typically takes more than three years.
Summary: Trump wants to end anti-pollution effortsbecause they are an Obama initiative, supposedly they are a burden on automakers, and climate change isn’t happening.
But, the automakers don’t want Trump’s plan to end anti-pollution efforts.
Mr. Trump’s job approval rating rose to 45% in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the highest mark of his presidency and up 1 percentage point from June.
The survey was taken over a four-day period that started July 15, a day before Mr. Trump’s news conference with Mr. Putin in which he questioned the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
Underpinning Mr. Trump’s job approval was support from 88% of Republican voters. Of the four previous White House occupants, only George W. Bush, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, had a higher approval rating within his own party at the same point in his presidency.
Summary: Trump opposes efforts to cut the pollution that kills adults and children, and causes damaging climate change. Forty-five percent of Americans and 88% of Republicans, think he is doing a good job.
Mencken was right:
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H. L. Mencken
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.
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 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.
What is the greatest threat to America? The question revolves around the word, “greatest.”
A giant meteor or a supervolcano both are possible, and because either could completely obliterate America, the threat can be considered “great,” though unlikely.
A nuclear war with Russia, China, or even North Korea or Iran, could damage America severely, though it is unlikely that any national leader, even Donald Trump, is insane enough to begin one. particularly because the leader would die.
A new disease, or even an old one that has morphed into new virulence, could cause great damage, but America would survive.
I believe the greatest threat to America is staring us in the face. It will not come from without, but within. We will do it to ourselves.
Here are some excerpts from recent articles:
Trump looks to punish critics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of at least half a dozen well-known former national security officials, his spokeswoman said on Monday, in an apparent expression of his desire to punish increasingly vocal critics from past administrations.
Trump tweeted that Iran would suffer untold consequences if it continued to threaten the U.S., said in all caps: “WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”
Trump, top aides raise heat on Iran
Verbal attacks attempt to distract from Russia
Critics immediately branded the threats as Trump’s attempt to divert attention from his troubled dealings with Russia, which has only grown since last week’s Helsinki summit with President Vladimir Putin and amid attention to the upcoming trial of his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.
The Trump administration will seek to revoke California’s authority to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions in a proposed revision of Obama-era standards.
The proposal amounts to a frontal assault on regulatory programs to curb greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Facts don’t wrest FBI grievances from Trump He routinely assails “Crooked Hillary” Clinton, blasts NFL players for kneeling, and complains about other countries taking advantage of the United States even when facts argue otherwise.
The FBI’s surveillance of former campaign adviser Carter Page gives the president a tool to contend he’s been persecuted by the ongoing Russia investigation. Yet, new documents released by his administration over the weekend still don’t bear out Trump’s assertions about illegal spying.
Republican electoral victories are increasingly dependent on gaming the system, and especially its multitude of counter-majoritarian veto points, to bring about outcomes that would be unachievable using democratic means. In the House, Republicans won a majority of the seats despite winning 1.5 million fewer votes than the Democrats
The result is the transformation of the Republican Party into a blatantly anti-democratic force.
Congress Must Tell Trump The White House Cannot Be Bought
Where other presidents put their business interests into blind trusts, Trump has turned a blind eye. California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell introduced a bill Monday that seeks to make it a criminal offense for President Donald Trump toaccept “anything of value from a foreign power.”
Prosecutors have 12 audio recordings seized from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen
Federal prosecutors have 12 audio recordings seized from the home, office, and hotel room of President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen
463 migrant parents may have been deported without their kids
The Trump administration said that 463 parents of migrant children are no longer in the U.S., even though their children are. More undocumented migrant parents might have been deported without their children than the government previously acknowledged.
A federal judge granted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort a delay. Manafort’s trial is the first in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference as Trump faces scrutiny of his cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin.
President Donald Trump wants to fight a suit by adult film star Stormy Daniels in Los Angeles rather than in New York. Daniels sued Trump in April claiming the president defamed her when he said on Twitter that her claim of having been threatened in 2011 by a man in Las Vegas was a “total con job.”
John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, tweeted as follows:
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous.”
Trump believes he has the right to pardon himself
Trump declared that he has “the absolute right” to pardon himself. Trump continued: “But why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?” So is the president threatening to put himself beyond the reach of the law?
Trump appeared to acknowledge Russia’s efforts to interfere in U.S. elections — but claimed against evidence that Moscow would be “pushing very hard for the Democrats” in the midterms this fall. Therefore establishing a foundation for declaring that any future election favoring Democrats is illegal.
These excerpts, which easily could be supplemented by hundreds in a similar vein, describe a combative President under great pressure, who will break any law, ignore any custom, and reject any convention to battle those who dare to demean him or to threaten his power and his money.
With that in mind, consider this probable scenario:
Trump refuses to testify before Special Counsel Robert Mueller
Mueller obtains a grand jury subpoena to force Trump to talk.
Trump refuses to obey the subpoena.
The case goes to the Supreme Court.
Here we confront two outcomes:
The Supreme Court agrees with Trump’s position that he is above the law. In this case, Trump essentially becomes the King of America, who cannot be punished or even prosecuted for any crime. Thus America instantly changes from a democracy to a monarchy and/or a dictatorship.
Or the Supreme Court does as previous Supreme Courts have done to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, and rules that Trump must submit to an interview with Mueller.
But if, despite the Supreme Court ruling, Trump still refuses. Now what?
Trump, as the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, has absolute power. He cannot be forced to do anything. In either scenario, America as we know it, ceases to exist.
Sadly, not only has Trump proved himself to be uncaring about law or precedent, but his followers like this about him. They see his lawbreaking and bullying as a sign of strength. His hatred for minorities matches theirs.
A substantial portion of our population approves of Trump’s disregard for people, for morals, and for the law. So they would support whatever he does.
Given that civilian support, plus his power over the military, Trump predictably would refuse to cooperate with anything that restricts him.
So the potential bottom line is: We would have an aggressive President, who thinks laws don’t apply to him, and who commands our military and has significant public backing and backing from a compliant GOP.
Further, Trump might not even accept the results of an election.
Given all that, who could guarantee that Trump would obey even a Supreme Court decision?
The likelihood is we would have a dictator, and America will have become his dictatorship.
And that is how easy it would be for the U.S. to slip back into third-world status. We already are teetering on the edge.
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.
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 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.
There are many reasons why Putin might have put so much energy into electing Donald Trump as President.
Oh sure, Putin knew Trump is a vainglorious fool who would be no match for Putin in the competition between nations.
And sure, Putin was afraid of Hillary Clinton’s toughness, brains, and experience, a far more worthy opponent than the ignorant, inexperienced, feckless Trump.
But the real reason, the big one, is money, the same reason why Trump is so obsequious when in the company of Putin. It is why Trump, after promising to reveal his tax returns, as previous Presidents had done, he invented excuses (“I’m under audit.” “The people don’t care.” ) and finally refused altogether.
Trump and his family have borrowed billions, of dollars from Putin’s Russian oligarch pals.
The Trump Organization borrowed billions of dollars to finance its real estate operations but subsequently defaulted on many of its loans.
Nevertheless, the Trumps were inexplicably able to continue borrowing millions more from the very banks still owed money.
Around the same time, Russian entities linked to the Kremlin quietly moved $10 billion dollars from global locations into the United States using the same banks.
Government inspectors independently uncovered the suspicious Russian transactions, known as “mirror trades” (stock purchases in overseas branches and identical immediate sales in the United States).
Democratic legislators have demanded banking information for identifying links; Republicans controlling Congressional committees refuse to cooperate.
If Putin’s pals demand their money back, Trump could be in serious financial trouble — maybe broke.
In 2008, Donald Jr. told investors in Moscow that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” while Eric reportedly said in 2014 that the Trump Organization was able to expand during the financial crisis because “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”
Trump has the slimy reputation of declaring bankruptcy every time the creditors close in, and that is the last thing Putin and his cronies want.
Trump can’t “rely” on American banks because they won’t lend to him.
Here is the gist of all conversations that may have happened, over time:
Putin: “Here’s the deal, Donald. We’ll help you to become President of the United States. You not only will become rich using the U.S. Treasury as your personal piggy bank, but we’ll let you build Trump Tower Moscow and get in on a bunch of other lucrative real estate deals here in Russia. We also will treat you to some beautiful hookers.”
Trump: “Money plus women. Sounds good to me.”
Putin: “In return, you will use the billions you’ll make to repay my friends for those loans, and never go bankrupt on us. And of course, you’ll see to it that those sanctions against Russia kind of fade away.”
Trump: “I’m in. But this has to be kept secret. I’ve done lots of sh*t in business, but being revealed as a traitor . . . on second thought hey, if the money is good and the women are beautiful . . . “
Putin: “We’ll open back channels for communication, and you and I can have meetings that no one else but interpreters attends. I’ll tell you just what to do. You can toss in a couple of stern comments and act, so it’s not too obvious that I own your butt. Just don’t release your tax returns. That would scatter the grain.”
Trump: “Huh?”
Putin: “Spill the beans.”
Trump: “I promise I won’t go bankrupt on you. Have I ever lied?”
Putin: “You better not. Remember what happened to Alexander Litvinenko, Yuri Shchekochikhin, Viktor Yushchenko, and Anna Politkovskaya. And of course, there’s Sergei Skripal and his daughter. You do like your daughter, don’t you, Donald?”
Trump: “Of course, as I’ve said, in public and on many occasions, ‘My daughter is hot. She’s voluptuous. It’s O.K. to call her a piece of ass. If she wasn’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.’ Don’t hurt my daughter. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
Putin: “And if necessary, you will send me your former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, so I can grill him the Russian way.”
Trump: “I’ll try.”
Putin: “And accept our annexation of Crimea.”
Trump: “Sure, why not?
Putin: “And finally, I don’t like NATO. It keeps me from getting back all those Soviet nations we used to own.
Trump: “I’ll break up NATO. It might take some time, but I’ll do it.”
Putin: “Or you will find yourself to be the innermost of a Russian matryoshka nesting doll set.”
Trump: “Yes, Vlad. May I get up, now? My knees hurt.”
And the rest is history. In total, there are many reasons why Putin would want Trump to be President, there are none favoring Clinton.
And as for Trump, the big reason is money. The man is notorious for cheating creditors, cheating employees, not giving to charity, using his charitable foundation for private use, keeping conflict-of-interest ownership and control over his properties while President, and encouraging the usage of his properties by foreign dignitaries.
Trump is all about money, money, money. He would do anything for money, including sell out his own country. And that explains everything.
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#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 