–The coming unnecessary, preventable recession: An exercise in ignorance

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

======================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Since 1971, when the U.S. government made itself Monetarily Sovereign (i.e. disconnected from gold), America has had six unnecessary, preventable recessions — an average of one every six years.

It has been an exercise in ignorance.

And now, as our nation drifts toward yet another unnecessary, preventable recession, let me summarize for you, some of the facts this blog has presented over the years:

1. U.S. depressions tend to come on the heels of federal surpluses.
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.

2. Recessions tend to come on the heels of reductions in federal debt/money growth (i.e. deficits)(See graph, below), while debt/money growth has increased when recessions were being cured.

Tax increases reduce debt/money growth. No government can tax itself into prosperity, but many government’s tax themselves into recession.. Spending decreases also reduce money growth.

Reductions in federal debt growth lead to inflation

Recessions repeatedly come on the heels of deficit growth reductions, and are cured with deficit growth increases.

3. The size of the above-mentioned reductions in federal debt/money growth, compared with the total economy (Gross Domestic Product), provides a clue to the arrival of an unnecessary, preventable recession:

Monetary Sovereignty

Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero.

Monetary Sovereignty

4. The greatest threat to the U.S. economy is not inflation, the federal debt or the federal deficit, but rather the increasing Gap between the rich and the rest.

Monetary Sovereignty
(0 = perfect equality; everyone earns the same amount. 1 = perfect inequality; one person earns everything.)

5. To prevent future recessions, we suggest the Ten Steps to Prosperity:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually Click here
8. Tax the very rich (.1%) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

The Ten Steps will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.

Now, here is the ignorance part:

CBO report forecasts unsustainable debt in long term

The economy is sluggish but growing and inflation remains low, painting a decidedly mixed picture for the federal government, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday, saying the fiscal situation is improving this year but will snap back by 2018 to swelling deficits and unsustainable debt.

The inflation rate is so low that Social Security beneficiaries probably won’t get a cost-of-living raise after this year, the CBO said. But tax revenue is up and spending has stayed pat (i.e. deficits are down), which is helping reduce the pool of red ink in the federal budget.

Combined, those numbers mean the government will run a deficit of $426 billion in fiscal year 2015, down about $60 billion from 2014 and marking the smallest deficit of President Obama’s tenure.

“The growth in debt is not sustainable,” CBO Director Keith Hall said in presenting the estimates. “At some point, it’s going to get to a very high level. Obviously, you can’t predict tipping points, but at some point this becomes a problem.”

CBO Director Keith Hall and President Obama are telling you several lies, which together form “The Big Lie”:

–Adding dollars to the economy (via spending) is bad for the economy
–Taking dollars out of the economy (via taxing) is good for the economy
–The federal debt is “unsustainable,” though what “unsustainable” means never is explained.
–All the data relating deficit reduction with recessions and depressions is meaningless
–There is no difference between the finances of our Monetarily Sovereign government vs. monetarily non-sovereign entities like you, me and local governments

Remember, President Obama is the man who brought us out of the Great Recession and grew the economy with increased deficit spending (aka “stimulus”). Now, he has reduced the deficit spending that saved us. He is leading us to another unnecessary, preventable recession — which probably will occur after he leaves office.

President Clinton did exactly the same thing: Reduced deficit spending, which caused a recession immediately after he left office. Clinton still boasts about that.

Democrats have called for tax hikes. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie argues that (Social Security) needs benefit adjustments (i.e. cuts) to survive. Medicare and Medicaid, the government’s health care programs for the elderly and the poor, also are growing quickly.

And there you have it. The politicians, all of whom are supported and ruled by the rich, will cure the nonexistent “large deficit problem,” by cutting benefits to the middle and lower income groups (the “99%”) and by raising taxes, also on the 99%.

Thus, will the Gap between the rich and the rest grow — exactly what the rich want.

And the people never understand what is being done to them.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Guns and Abortion: Part II

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

===================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

The previous post began with:

Use the words “guns” or “abortion” and immediately, the adrenalin starts to pump to the heart and limbs, but not to the brain. It would be difficult to find someone without a strong, STRONG (i.e. emotional) opinion.

If you have a strong opinion in one direction, and I have a strong opinion in the opposite direction, all the facts in the world may not sway either of us. But perhaps there is a middle ground where reason will prevail.

That post discussed guns. Now, we’ll plunge even deeper into fact-free, emotional mysticism by talking about abortion.

We (mostly) can agree that the murder of a human being is evil. But we also (mostly) agree there are exceptions:

–Soldiers kill enemy soldiers, because killing to protect the lives, health, freedoms and way of life of fellow countrymen is justified. The life of an enemy is considered to be worth less than the life of an ally.

–Police kill threatening criminals, because killing to protect the lives and safety of innocent civilians, and in self-defense, is justified. The life of a threatening person is considered to be worth less than the life of an innocent person or a police officer.

–Some states sentence people to death, because lawful killing, by definition, is justified. The life of someone planning, attempting or carrying out a homicide is worth less than that of a victim.

–You yourself might kill someone in defense of your family, yourself, or really, just about anyone whose life is being threatened by someone else. The life of a defender is considered to be more important than the life of an attacker.

Clearly then, killing even a fully developed human, let alone a 4-cell blastocyst, often is justified. It has been done millions of times, and some of the killers are considered heroes and are decorated with medals by society.

So, in discussing abortion, we need to consider some questions that have no answers:

1. At what point does the merger of an egg and a sperm, or a blastocyst, become a human being?

2. When is killing, to protect the life, health and freedom and way of life of a mother, justified?

It is a quirk of the human psyche, that beliefs can be strongest when proof is weakest. The reason: When we lack data, we resort to intuition and faith. Science relies on fact-based conclusions, which can be overturned by more or better facts and conclusions.

But intuition and faith cannot be disproved.

Thus religion, which essentially is supported by zero facts, elicits the strongest beliefs. For most of us, the religion we so fervently support, just happens, by the accident of fate, to be the one we were born into.

What our caretakers believe, we tend to believe, and not just believe, but angrily, furiously believe. But why? It is part of our tribal survival, to adopt the ways and beliefs of those around us.

Returning to question #1., when does a human life begin? If your parents are Catholic, you may believe human life begins when the sperm merges with the egg. Perhaps, even prior to that.

Or, if not then, possibly any supporting research that demonstrates a reaction to stimuli, will “prove” human life has begun.

Or, does size matter most?

Stages of Baby Growth

Month 1: Your baby is about 1/4 inch long – smaller than a grain of rice.
Month 2: Your baby is about the size of a kidney bean.
Month 3: Your baby is approximately 2 1/2 inches long by the end of this month.
Month 4: Your baby measures 4 1/2 inches in length and weighs nearly 3 ounces.
Month 5: Your baby is about 6 1/2 inches long
Month 6: He is 12 inches in length and weighs approximately 1 1/2 pounds.
Month 7: She is now about 15 inches in length and weighs around 4 pounds.
Month 8: At about 6 pounds, your baby is between 16 to 19 inches long.
Month 9: When your due date arrives, your baby will be approximately 20 inches in length and weigh, on average, about 7 1/2 pounds.

So, what do you believe? Is the life, health, freedom and way of life of a mother more or less important than the life, health, freedom and way of life of an embryo the size of a rice grain?

What about a kidney bean? Or 2 1/2 inches long? If they were in front of you — the mother sitting in front of you, and the “kidney bean” in a tiny spoon — in whose favor would you decide? Whose life and future is more important? At what point of pregnancy, is the fetus more important than the mother?

There is no right or wrong answer, but whatever month you choose we must consider the next question: When is killing justified?

We gave examples of soldiers, police, the state, someone defending his own life or the lives of others. But it can be more than defending lives. It can include other defenses.

Would you feel justified in shooting someone if he:

1. Was about to toss “Molotov Cocktails” into your home?
2. Was about to cut off one of your feet?
3. Was about to injure your child?
4. Was about to push a computer key that would cause America to lose a war, allowing Russia to rule America.

Many people would answer “Yes” to all four questions. I know I would.

Think carefully: What would you do?

Question #1. could be under the broad heading: “Serious threats to your financial assets.”
Question #2. could be under the broad heading: “Serious threats to your physical and mental health.”
Question #3. could be under the broad heading: “Serious threats to your family.”
Question #4. could be under the broad heading, “Serious threats to your happiness and your way of life.”

Getting back to the question of abortion:

–Under “Serious threats to your financial assets,” we could include: An unwanted pregnancy, delivery and unafordable cost of raising the child
–Under “Serious threats to your physical and mental health,” we could include: A dangerous pregnancy.
–Under “Serious threats to your family,: we could include: Hating the concept of motherhood so much you know you will mistreat or neglect the child.
–Under “Serious threats to your happiness and your way of life” we could Include: Being forced to deliver and raise an unwanted child.

If you answered “Yes,” you would be justified in killing a full grown man to prevent the four serious threats, remember that to a frightened desperate girl, pregnancy/delivery/parenting could be as threatening as a housefire, an amputation, child cruelty and enduring a foreign invasion.

If you were that girl, would you also be justified in killing a rice grain-size embryo or a 4″ fetus, to prevent the same serious threats?

Can you empathize?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

===================================================================================
Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually Click here
8. Tax the very rich (.1%) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

The Ten Steps will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.
——————————————————————————————————————————————

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK
Monetary Sovereignty

Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero.

Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–Guns and abortion: No thinking allowed

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

===================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Use the words “guns” or “abortion” and immediately, the adrenalin starts to pump to the heart and limbs, but not to the brain. It would be difficult to find someone without a strong, STRONG (i.e. emotional) opinion.

If you have a strong opinion in one direction, and I have a strong opinion in the opposite direction, all the facts in the world may not sway either of us. But perhaps there is a middle ground where reason will prevail.

Here are my thoughts on GUNS. An article on abortion will follow.

GUNS:
Some may believe their owning their guns, and their neighbors owning their guns, and total strangers owning their guns, all combine to make us safer.

And I may believe all those guns are a danger to you and to me.

So we talk — no, shout — louder and louder, as though volume will penetrate the walls around our minds. It won’t.

So is it hopeless? Are we, as thinking adults, incapable of any agreement about gun ownership? Twenty years from now, will we still toss opinions and statistics at each other to prove what we viscerally believe and what we viscerally deny?

Or, are there at least a few things on which we can agree?

Let’s try:

1. Guns do kill people. They also wound, cripple and scare people. That is the whole point.

2. Guns do protect people. If people were to invade your house or accost you on the street, and if you are able to access your loaded gun before the other guys access their loaded guns, and if you are a better shot than the other guys, you very well might save your life and the lives of your loved ones — assuming no innocent lives are lost in a gun battle.

3. We are complex humans with complex human frailties, and one of those frailties is emotion. Because of emotion, each of us has times when we get angry, times when we are frightened, greedy, thoughtless, careless, and sometimes, downright stupid — times when we are controlled by emotion and do not act in a rational, logical, thoughtful manner.

No one is immune, not you, not me, not anyone. Think back to when you’ve done something you now, in the clear, calm light of day, wish you had done differently. Don’t think it won’t happen again. It will.

4. There are no purely “good guys” or purely “bad guys.” The bank robber might be a loving husband and parent. Your “nice” neighbor might explode into rage if your car runs over his precious flower beds.

Some people spend more time being good than being bad; for others the reverse is true. We each have our moments. So, we can’t be confident we can divide the world neatly into “good guys” and “bad guys.”

5. During our “good,” unemotional moments, having a gun can be a comforting, reasonable defensive tool. During our “bad,” emotional moments, a gun can be a danger to ourselves, our loved ones as well as to strangers.

A toddler was shot in a home near East 70th Street and South Harper Avenue around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday. Police said several people were inside the house when the gun accidentally went off.

Charged in double murder at age 8: Police accused him of using a .22-caliber rifle to shoot his father and his father’s friend as they returned home from work. No exact motive was revealed, although the boy referred to spankings in discussions with child welfare investigators.

A 12-year-old boy will be charged with first-degree murder alongside 15-year-old Shuntayvious Primes-Willis and 17-year-old Jamar E. Milton, police said. All three suspects had guns.

Man kills own son in front of pregnant wife. Samuel Yue was calm and cooperative when Fresno police officers arrested him. Moments earlier, investigators say he fired several rounds that struck and killed his son, Tom Yue. Shocked residents are trying to figure out what made their normally quiet neighbors so upset.

All of the above says:

6. Many people should own guns, but not everyone. Do you agree?

There needs to be a way to separate those who should from those who shouldn’t. At least, we should try.

Because past actions are the best predictor of future actions, people with a history of anger issues, violence, mental disturbance or crime should not own guns.

Those under 21 should not own or possess guns. Scientists have shown that the part of the human brain regulating common sense does not mature before then. Guns plus lack of common sense make for an explosive combination.

Those adults whose anger makes them lose control — they punch a hole in the wall or throw objects, beat their wives, spank their kids so hard it leaves bruises, have a physical fight, cause or almost cause an auto accident due to road rage, get angry drunk, send threatening messages — those people should not own or possess guns.

Their lack of self-control makes them an intentional or accidental danger to themselves and to others.

7. Those who already have guns should be regulated.
A. Every gun seller should access a national criminal database, to determine whether the buyer has been convicted of any violent crime. Every gun seller should register the sale with a national gun sale registry. There should be a jail sentence for sellers who fail to abide.

B. Every gun buyer should sign, under oath, that he has not been convicted of any crime involving violence, with a jail sentence for those who lie.

C. Guns should not be allowed in places where emotion can overwhelm self-control. For example:
–Anywhere alcohol is served: Obviously.
–Large crowds: Increased danger to bystanders plus the anger and madness crowds generate.
–Cars: Road rage
–Courtrooms: Everyone is angry in a courtroom.
–Near children. They are our innocents.

D. Gun owners should be required to take gun safety lessons periodically, and simultaneously to testify under oath (jail penalty), that they have not had the criminal, anger or mental issues mentioned above.

E. Enact Into Law: “Any person who commits a felony while carrying a gun, shall be sentenced to a prison term of 20 years to life, in addition to the term for the felony itself.”

None of the above takes guns from any responsible person, i.e. the “good guys.” In fact it helps protect the good guys and the good guys’ families, neighbors and strangers. We shouldn’t ignore the problem of gun deaths, pretending it doesn’t exist (It does) or hoping it will go away by itself. (It won’t).

We have the money and the intelligence to protect ourselves. We just need the will.

The above are my suggestions.

What are yours?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

===================================================================================
Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually Click here
8. Tax the very rich (.1%) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

The Ten Steps will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.
——————————————————————————————————————————————

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK
Monetary Sovereignty

Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero.

Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–Are you religious? Here is a test:

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

===================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Are you religious? What are your criteria?

The heart and soul of most religions, and surely the Judeo-Christian religions, is compassion. It is the Golden Rule.

Are you religious?

Being religious is not measured by your rote knowledge of bible passages. Being religious is measured by your empathy for your fellow human beings.

Are you religious?

Being religious is not belief in, or fear of, an all-powerful spirit. Being religious is your concern for the human spirit.

Are you religious?

Someone asked Donald Trump, who claimed to be religious, to recite a bible passage. He couldn’t. Does that reveal he isn’t religious? No, it doesn’t.

Trump threatens to rip 11 million men, women and children from their homes, even children who legally are U.S. citizens, and ship them to Mexico.

It’s his utter lack of compassion, empathy and concern that reveals Trump isn’t religious.

Contrast this with the Pope’s remarks:

He urged Americans to embrace immigrants from Central and South America, saying they are only doing what anyone else would in their situation. He said their plight should invoke the Golden Rule and implored compassion from the U.S.

“This rule points us in a clear direction: Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves.

“In a word, if we want security, let us give security. If we want life, let us give life. If we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities.

“The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us,” the pontiff said, drawing a standing ovation from the assembled House and Senate.

Those were religious thoughts.

How ironic that those religious thoughts would receive a standing ovation from the House and Senate, the majorities of which do not believe in those thoughts at all. Quite the opposite.

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis sparked a national furor by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. (This) propelled her to folk hero status among some on the religious right.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher running for president, rushed to Davis’ side, visited her in jail and held a religious freedom rally on the jailhouse lawn. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also traveled to Kentucky to bask in her defiance.

Davis revealed that she decided last week to switch her allegiances to the Republican ticket.

Davis, who made the rounds this week on television news programs to defend her actions and tout her religious conviction, was invited to the event hosted by the Family Research Council, a conservative lobbying group, along with other “Christians who have been targeted for their religious beliefs on natural marriage.”

Is Kim Davis religious? Are preacher Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz religious?

And Rick Santorum, who defends Kim Davis and is slated to speak at the “Marriage God’s Way” prayer rally at the Statehouse in Columbia — is he religious?

In my opinion, they are the least religious of people. They are hypocrites. Perhaps they have memorized bible passages. Perhaps they attend church weekly, daily or even hourly.

They have cloaked their lives in the mantle of religion. But they know nothing of religion. They know nothing of compassion. They have no empathy. They care nothing for the Golden Rule. They are heartless.

They are amoral judges of morality.

They are religionists, parroting selected lines from the bible, with no understanding of what the bible means. They claim to be Christians, but have no understanding of Christ.

This mayor wants to publicize who’s on welfare and where they live

If you receive government assistance in the state of Maine, (Republican) Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald thinks the public has a right to know about it.

In a Thursday column for the Twin City Times, Macdonald said a bill will be submitted during Maine’s next legislative session “asking that a Web site be created containing the names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected by every individual on the dole.”

He added: “After all, the public has a right to know how its money is being spent.”

Is Mayor Macdonald a religious man? If you paid taxes in Lewiston, would you want to know the name and address of every poor person who is “on the dole,” so you could stone their houses, and bully their children, and humiliate them all?

Mayor Macdonald believes the poor deserve such humiliation. In Macdonald’s mind, the poor are lazy slackers, who’d rather receive the pittance offered by the government, than to work for real money.

Macdonald does not care that some of the poor are sick and unable to work, while others, the working poor, have such low-paying jobs they still can’t afford to make ends meet without help.

Macdonald seems to believe poor children would rather eat junk food and live where the rich landlord won’t fix the toilets, than to lead better lives. He seems to believe poverty is the fault of the poor, and that the poor are not humans.

Macdonald delights in punishing the less fortunate. Is he a religious man? Do you agree with Macdonald?

Compassion for the poor, the hungry, the less fortunate, the stranger in your land is a necessary part of being religious.

Yet the self-proclaimed religious favor cutting Social Security for the elderly, cutting Medicare for the sick, cutting unemployment compensation for the poor, cutting food stamps for the hungry, evicting immigrants who came to us for rescue.

Even more damning, providing these benefits to the less fortunate costs us nothing. Our government is Monetarily Sovereign, producing money freely.

So now that you have read the test, you can decide. Are you a religious person, or are you a hypocritical religionist, cheering the Pope, but not meaning it, like Huckabee, Santorum, Trump and most of the U.S. Congress?

Your call.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually Click here
8. Tax the very rich (.1%) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

The Ten Steps will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.
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10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero.

Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY