–Why the right wing is like my Toffee.

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..

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Years ago, a Shetland Sheep dog (Sheltie) named Toffee lived in my house. Those of you familiar with Shelties know they are small dogs, and unlike most small dogs, they are of very mild temperament.

I never have heard of a Sheltie biting anyone, and even a growl would be most unSheltie-like.

Shelties are shepherding dogs, and as with most shepherd dogs, they are known to be intelligent. In fact, the Border Collie, a close relative, may be the smartest dog of all.

Despite his mild manner, Toffee barked, in his laughable, high-pitched little yips, but only when the doorbell rang. Though most dogs bark at the door, we wondered wondered why Toffee did.

He was so tuned to the family, and so understanding of what we wanted, he generally he did only as he was trained to do, and simply didn’t bother to do what we didn’t train him to do — he was that obedient and sensitive to our desires (and perhaps lazy, too).

He never barked at anyone. And we never had trained him to bark at the door. After all, his yips wouldn’t have scared a mouse, let alone a burglar.

We finally realized he actually had been trained. Whenever we were away from home, and someone came to the door, he must have barked. And when no one answered, the person went away.

Toffee was mildly protective of the people who fed him, and of his territory, so he must have come to believe it was his barking that sent the stranger away.

And that is exactly how paranoid right-wingers (redundancy?) are being trained:

Texas Finally Chooses The Brave Souls Who Will Monitor The Military Takeover

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had responded the most forcefully out of all the governors presiding over states where the training exercise, dubbed “Jade Helm 15,” was scheduled to take place by requesting that the State Guard monitor the exercise.

He made the request in April, just a day after more than 200 concerned residents of Bastrop, Texas peppered a U.S. Army spokesman with questions about whether “Jade Helm 15” was really a cover for the implementation of martial law.

Note to the 200 “concerned residents of Bastrop, Texas et al: Come on, folks. Get real. Even a cowboy with half a brain must realize that the federal government is not planning to impose martial law on your town, your county, your state or your nation.

The State Guard is expected to brief the governor’s office once a day, offering a review of the past 24 hours’ activity as well as a rundown of what’s scheduled to happen in the next 72 hours.

In his letter ordering the agency to monitor the exercise, Abbott called on the State Guard to ensure that Texans’ civil liberties were protected.

Oooohh, Texans’ civil liberties are in mortal danger, but thank heavens we have Governor Greg Abbott, along with the Texas State Guard, ready to battle the military of the United States.

And who is this organization, the State Guard, that will protect Texas from the U.S. Military?

As the Washington Post has pointed out, state-sponsored militias like the Texas State Guard (as opposed to the Texas Army National Guard) cannot be activated for federal missions and are generally called upon in emergency situations or for ceremonial activities..

State Guard volunteers train once a month without pay but do receive a free concealed handgun license and a daily stipend when activated for emergencies.

Get it, right-wingers? These are the guys who march in parades, lay sandbags in case of floods or help people out of houses crushed by tornadoes.

They train once a month, for no pay, and they get a free concealed handgun license. Wow! That sounds like a group who could defeat the military of the United States in a battle, doesn’t it?

Feel safer, now?

“It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed,” Abbott wrote.

“By monitoring the Operation on a continual basis, the State Guard will facilitate communications between my office and the commanders of the Operation to ensure that adequate measures are in place to protect Texans.”

“If a team member sees two Humvees full of soldiers driving through town, they’re going to follow them,” Eric Johnston, a Texas surveillance team leader, told The Houston Chronicle. “And they’re going to radio back their ultimate location.”

Eventually, the U.S. Military will finish its exercise and go away, which will allow the Texas State Guard to stop playing soldier and go home.

In all probability, brave Governor Abbott will tell his followers that it was the presence of the mighty Texas State Guard that prevented a takeover by the federal government.

Clearly, the U.S. Military must have realized it was overmatched and decided to retreat. What else could it be?

So like Toffee, my Sheltie, who never bit anyone, barked at anyone or even growled, but who was trained to believe his soft barking chased away dangerous strangers, so too will Texans believe their Governor and State Guard prevented the U.S. military from imposing martial law.

Whew! That was a close one.

After seeing how right wingers fear not only the U.S. Military, but black people, Mexicans, gay people, immigrants, poor people, Northerners and anyone not Christian (but not guns in the home), one wonders whether silly paranoia is a requirement for being a conservative.

Even Toffee had more common sense than that.

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
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

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

–Of whom does Donald Trump remind you?

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.
**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 isthe gap between rich and poor.
**Austerity is the government’s method for wideningthe gap between rich and poor.
**Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
**To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
**Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

Of whom does Donald Trump remind you?

In his comments, blaming undocumented immigrants for crime and hurting the economy, Trump is walking a well-traveled path, a path you will recognize:

Fact Checker
Donald Trump’s false comments connecting Mexican immigrants and crime

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

“What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.”

“I will be the greatest jobs president that God has ever created. I’ll bring back our jobs from China, from Mexico, from Japan, from so many places . . . and I’ll bring back our money.”

Data on immigrants and crime are incomplete, but a range of studies show there is no evidence immigrants commit more crimes than native-born Americans. In fact, first-generation immigrants are predisposed to lower crime rates than native-born Americans.

Immigration and crime levels have had inverse trajectories since the 1990s: immigration has increased, while crime has decreased. Some experts say the influx of immigrants contributed to the decrease in crime rates, by increasing the denominator while not adding significantly to the numerator.

When asked how the data are indicative of the Mexican government sending criminals to the United States, or that there is a crime wave coming across the border, a Trump campaign adviser said: “The data speaks for itself.”

The Congressional Research Service found that the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants do not fit in the category that fits Trump’s description: aggravated felons, whose crimes include murder, drug trafficking or illegal trafficking of firearms.

An analysis of 2010 Census data in a report from the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration group, shows that 1.6 percent of immigrant males 18 to 39 years old were incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of native-born males.

That disparity in incarceration rates has been consistent in the decennial Census since 1980, the report says.

In short, Trump has lied to make undocumented Mexican immigrants scapegoats.

He falsely claims Mexicans are responsible for “lots of problems.” He falsely claims they are criminals and rapists, responsible for illegal drugs.

He claims the solution for these “problems” is to deport undocumented Mexicans.

Did Trump invent hatred of undocumented Mexicans? No, he built on and used anti-immigrant ideas that already existed.

The gasbag also said he will “be the greatest jobs president” and will grow the American economy, though he gives no clue about how he would do this, other than by deporting 12 million scapegoats.

Anne Frank House: An important term to mention here is ‘scapegoat’.

Hitler and the Nazis said the Jews were responsible for huge events like losing World War One and the economic crisis. This was totally untrue.

But by giving the Jews the blame Hitler created an enemy. Hitler said that all Germany’s problems had been caused by the Jews. Many people believed him.

The solution to all these problems was to banish the Jews from society. With this political message and the promise to make Germany a large and economically powerful country Hitler’s party won the 1932 election.

In 1933 he and his party came to power.

Did Hitler invent hatred of Jews? No, Hitler built on and used antisemitic ideas that already existed. He was Austrian and grew up in Vienna where the mayor was extremely antisemitic and where hatred of Jews was widespread. His hatred of Jews cannot be tied down to a specific event in his life.

Just as Hitler did, Trump appeals to the lowest instincts of humanity. He appeals to hatred and xenophobia.

His unapologetic “birther” campaign against President Obama, was a disguised appeal to haters of blacks.

Trump is our modern-day Hitler, and you will see that haters will be his core constituency, just as the haters were Hitler’s.

Most dictators have gained power via hatred of some group. It happened in Hitler’s Germany. It happened in Stalin’s Russia (Jews and Bolsheviks). It happened in Mao’s China (the rich, the educated, the clergy).

Always, there was some group at which hatred was directed — some group falsely blamed.

And the result always has been disaster, for that is where hatred always leads.

As Trump’s popularity rises, it is happening here.

He is forcing us onto a well-traveled path.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–Will the Greek people finally stop being the geese who lay golden eggs for the rich?

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.
**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.
**To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
**Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..

Will the Greek people finally stop being the geese who lay golden eggs for the rich?

Sometimes I feel we’re in an endless, time-loop, “Groundhog Day” movie, when I read articles like the following:

Greece faces last chance to stay in euro as cash runs out
Reuters: By Paul Taylor and Renee Maltezou

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had a final chance to present credible reform proposals to an emergency euro zone summit on Tuesday to persuade skeptical creditors to reopen aid talks before his country’s banks run out of money.

With Greek lenders down to their last few days of cash and the European Central Bank tightening the noose on their funding, Tsipras must convince the bloc’s other 18 leaders, many of whom are exasperated with five years of crisis, to authorize negotiations fast on a new loan to rescue Greece.

Apparently, nothing has been learned. Still there remains the belief that Greece should have yet another “loan rescue,” so as to remain with the euro.

Still there remains the belief that Greece should present “credible reform proposals” (i.e more and more punishing austerity), so it can bleed its own people to pay the troika loan sharks.

Those “other leaders” of the block have become “exasperated” with five years of crisis, a crisis they created by inventing a financial union without a political union.

In my personally gratifying “I-told-you-so” mode, I repeatedly remind you of what I first said in a June 5, 2005 talk at the University of Missouri, KC:

“Because of the Euro, no euro nation can control its own money supply. The Euro is the worst economic idea since the recession-era, Smoot-Hawley Tariff. The economies of European nations are doomed by the euro.”

And now, it is ten years later, and still we read an article about how Greece must convince its rapacious lenders to allow it to burn in the frying pan of economic ignorance and misery.

So deeply in debt you cannot pay? Well, then borrow some more. That is the troika’s self-serving solution.

And now it is four years after I posted: There are two, and only two, long-term solutions for Greece and the other euro nations. (Thursday, Nov 3 2011), which included these lines:

In giving up the drachma, and taking on the euro, Greece voluntarily surrendered the single most valuable asset any nation can have: Its Monetary Sovereignty.

Greece now is monetarily non-sovereign. There is an absolute rule in economics: No monetarily non-sovereign government can survive long term without money coming in from outside its borders. Germany, another nation that gave up its most valuable asset, the mark, and also is monetarily non-sovereign, survives on exports.

Nevada, which also is monetarily non-sovereign, survives mostly on tourism (aka gambling). No monetarily non-sovereign can survive long-term on internal taxes or borrowing.

By contrast, Monetarily Sovereign nations do not need money coming in from outside their borders, because they create unlimited money simply by paying bills.

For Greece and the other euro nations, long term survival requires one of two, and only two, events:

1. Adopt some form of a sovereign currency, and become Monetarily Sovereign
or
2. The EU give (not lend) euros to its member nations as needed.

Event #1 requires reversing the ill-fated switch to the euro.

If Greece re-adopts the drachma, and becomes Monetarily Sovereign again, it can free itself of the appropriately despised austerity, and build its economy.

Other euro nations, especially those with a negative balance of payments, soon will follow.

Or, if Europe adopts event #2, and creates a political union, perhaps a form of “United States of Europe,” it could become the most powerful economic force in the world, surpassing even the U.S. and China.

Long term, which path will Europe follow?

Europe will follow the path the bankers and the super-rich feel will be most profitable for them.

Very little consideration will be given to the welfare of the populace, the same lack of consideration for the people that led to the creation of the euro.

Despite you have been told, the purpose of the euro never was to ease trade, nor was it to establish peace in Europe. The purpose was to give the rich bankers, the troika (European Central Bank [ECB], the European Commission [EC], and the International Monetary Fund [IMF]), absolute control over the people.

Remember, Monetary Sovereignty is the most valuable asset any nation can have. With Monetary Sovereignty, a nation can buy anything it wishes. It can buy prosperity. It can buy health, housing, education, food, convenience and pleasure for its citizenry.

By adopting the euro, each member nation handed over its most valuable asset to the small group of politicians. And oh, how the bankers loved it.

They could lend euros to nations already deeply in debt, knowing they had the financial blackjack of the troika on their side. They could suck the life out of the people, via ever-greater taxes and ever-smaller benefits — and it all was in the name of “fiscal prudence.”

If the people complained about austerity, it became a moral issue. They were “lazy takers,” who were part of a “welfare society” and who “expected the government to take care of them.”

It was a no-lose, highly profitable situation for the rich, so long as the populace didn’t get wise to the scam.

Now, that the Greek people have wised up, the rich desperately are trying to hang on to the geese who have been laying those golden eggs.

My prediction: The rich will find a way to continue the racket, just in a different form. The only way this could change is in the rare circumstance where a strong and caring leader emerges.

Do you see any such on Europe’s horizon?

Or will the geese keep on a’layin’?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

Hitler in America. Why a bigot can win the Presidency

THE POST WAS PUBLISHED IN JULY, 2015

If you want to know why a bigot can win the Presidency, read this:

Republican Donald Trump is an obvious and transparent racist.

Made rich by his daddy, he surrounds himself with bootlickers, telling him he’s right — and like many rich fools, he believes what they tell him.

He appeals to the worst and lowest aspects of American society — the haters and those of low morals and intelligence, who leap at the chance to blame someone, anyone, for their own deservedly low self-esteem:

Donald Trump doubles down on Mexico ‘rapists’ comments despite outrage

Trump claimed statistics show that undocumented Latino immigrants are more likely to perpetrate rape than the wider population. However, the Fusion article he referred to said 80% of women crossing the Mexican border are raped along the way, often by criminal gangs, traffickers or corrupt officials.

When CNN host Don Lemon pointed out that Trump had misread the article, the former Apprentice host said: “Well, somebody’s doing the raping, Don! I mean somebody’s doing it! Who’s doing the raping? Who’s doing the raping?

“If you look at the statistics of people coming, you look at the statistics on rape, on crime, on everything coming in illegally into this country it’s mind-boggling!”

Trump’s entire statement was: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best . . .” [Comment: Mexico is not “sending” people. People are fleeing Mexico to come to America for a better life.]

“They’re sending people who have lots of problems. And they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs . . . “ [Comment: The vast majority of arrested undocumented immigrants (actually 95%) are not charged with bringing drugs. They are charged only with . . . that’s right: Being undocumented. That is their crime.]

“They’re bringing crime . . .” [Comment: Does Immigration Increase Crime? The results of the analysis are clear: “There’s essentially no correlation between immigrants and violent crime. Given some media depictions of immigrants as violent, or associated with human trafficking and the drug trade, this finding may come as a surprise to many. There’s a long perception that immigration increases crime, and when you look at neighborhoods where lots of immigrants live. These are typically not the best neighborhoods. These are violent places. So there’s this anecdotal association between immigrants and violent crime that just doesn’t turn out to be true in the data.”]

“They’re rapists. . . ” [There is zero data to support this. Trump twisted a report that said Mexican women are being raped on the way here — a huge jump from Mexican immigrants being rapists.]

Finally, Trump uses the standard bigot’s excuse: “I love the Mexican people; I do business with the Mexican people.”

It’s a take on the old, “Some of my best friends are black,” line.

Any moral person of normal intelligence will see Trump for what he is, a big-mouthed, egomaniacal extremist, as much a danger to America as Hitler was to Germany — and using the same tactics.

Sadly, America has its share of low-morals followers, as witness some of the comments at:

Bush says he takes Trump’s immigration remarks personallyWhen Trump announced his presidential bid last month, he criticized Mexico and immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally. “They’re bringing drugs,” he said. “They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

COMMENTS BY READERS

–America is sick of the illegal alien problem and Americans are overwhelmingly against any type of amnesty for illegal aliens. Anybody that is anything short of a turnip has figured out by now Jeb Bush isn’t going to do a damn thing about illegal aliens except something that favors and coddles illegal aliens. If elected, Jeb would be a middle of the road push over…a piece of light bread soaked in water. Trump is at least old school tough and not afraid to speak out. We would be way better off with Trump.

–I work at a rural Colorado hospital and am offended every time a fence jumper delivers ANOTHER baby (aka an instant American citizen)…FREE OF CHARGE…on my dime! I am offended that ILLEGALS are allowed to qualify for housing and food assistance…ON MY DIME! These criminals refuse to assimilate and hang their Mexican flags on their porches. I would much rather see our Confederate Flag than a Mexican one. Maybe we should throw a liberal hissy fit and we, the people, ban MEXICAN FLAGS!

–This just shows that Bush has a lot more in common with the Dems than with his own party. Trump, is the only GOP nominee who has come out strongly against immigration and that is what the conservatives want to hear.

–Bush also implied he would be telling conservatives to embrace policies like amnesty and Common Core, which is reminiscent of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s all-in approach to global warming during his failed 2012 presidential campaign.

–Did anyone ever tell Bush 69% of the american people oppose illegal immigration? About 58% of Americans support deportation of all illegals. Sound pretty mainstream to me.

–How about the many American citizens who have also been killed and murdered, by illegal aliens, including our law enforcement officers; are you taking those murders personally too?

–What about the 25 American citizens who are killed each day by illegal aliens, either by traffic accidents (i.e. drunk driving, hit-and-runs, etc.), during the commission of a crime, and unlawful discharge of firearms; are you taking those personally too?

The hate and bigotry goes on and on. You find this particularly on right-wing web sites.

Why? Because the right wing has been sowing the winds of hatred since Obama became President, and now America is reaping the whirlwind.

No Republican candidate has a chance to be nominated unless he/she spews the anti-science, anti-poor, anti-black, anti-brown, anti-gay, anti-women, pro-rich platform.

Through most of my life, I actually voted Republican, but the current extremist, hateful, religionist bent of the party is too reminiscent of Hitler for my taste. It should be repugnant to every American.

If you are part of any minority in America, you should be very frightened. History is littered with Hitlers, Stalins and Maos. Most dictators have used bigotry and hatred to gain political power.

I pray American will see Trump for what he is. Or the America, of which we are so proud, will be no more. We’ll be Nazi Germany.

And don’t think it couldn’t happen here.

The Germans didn’t think it could happen to them, either.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

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