–A solution to gun control and the genius of Wayne LaPierre

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor,
which ultimately leads to civil disorder.
●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.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The penalty for ignorance is slavery.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive.

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

First let me admit my own bigotry. I despise the National Rifle Association (NRA). I believe this group has been responsible for more American deaths than has Al-Qaeda.

No need to argue with me. I could quote facts, and gun lovers could quote their facts. But, there are certain things beyond rational argument: religion, abortion and guns, to name three.

In previous posts I suggested what I thought was a possible solution to gun violence:

Is gun control possible? (Friday, May 21 2010) and The constitutional solution to gun violence, that scares the hell out of the NRA (Wednesday, Sep 18 2013)

The solution given in these posts was: “Make each manufacturer, seller or provider of a gun liable for the use of that gun.” Several logical reasons were given for this corollary to the “dram-shop” ordinances used to address alcohol misuse.

But for those who twist the meaning of “well-regulated militia,” or who believe the NRA slogan, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people,” what chance would logical argument have?

That said, here is another familiar quote from the NRA’s executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Within this quote may lie a solution to a problem.

What LaPierre seems to be telling us is:

1. Bad guys, carrying guns, need to be stopped.
2. The only way to stop them is with a gun held by a good guy.

How does a good guy with a gun stop a bad guy, who also is carrying a gun? By shooting the bad guy, before he can shoot any good guys.

Given that solution, we are left with one simple problem. How do we identify the good guys and the bad guys?

To date, gun control advocates have focused on background checks, which the NRA sees as a secret plot to take guns away, or to give the government a list of gun owners, for some devious purpose.

So how do we “stop” bad guys with guns, if we don’t know who they are?

There really is only one way to identify bad guys and to prevent these bad guys from obtaining guns and from shooting people: Convince the bad guys to self-select. We have to convince them that shooting someone or even carrying a gun, would be a bad idea.

Here, in common English, is the bare bones of a suggested law. (I’m sure the politicians could translate it into appropriate legalese):

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.

Example: You rob a store, while you are carrying a gun. The judge sentences you to two years in jail. Ordinarily, you’d be out of jail in about 18 months.

But with the above law in force, you’d serve at least 22 years (“20-years-to-life” means a minimum of 20 years).

Too harsh? Not at all. Wayne LaPierre wants to shoot those bad guys. This law mercifully only jails them.

Good guys should welcome this law. It says nothing about taking away your guns. It allows you to stockpile all the guns you want — pistols, rifles, shotguns, AK47s — whatever feels good to you.

The only ones punished are the bad guys — the felons. And although the law doesn’t require shooting them, it will keep them off the streets and even make them think twice before carrying guns.

In the mean streets of many cities, it’s become a badge of honor, not at all a deterrent, for a gangbanger to spend a couple years in jail, get his tattoos, then come out and start shooting again.

But 20+ years? That’s a whole different ballgame.

LaPierre might object that the proposed law doesn’t ask good guys to shoot bad guys — just jail them. But I think he’ll like the rest of the law

1. It identifies the bad guys, without good guys having to undergo background checks.
2. Good guys can keep their guns.
3. Bad guys are “stopped,” without the need for good guys to start a dangerous shootout, in which innocent good guys could be killed.
4. The long jail sentence could dissuade bad guys from carrying guns.

It’s a solution that accomplishes everything Wayne LaPierre and the NRA wants, and nothing they don’t want. It evolved directly from LaPierre’s own words.

The man is a genius.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================
Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
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. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here)

—–

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.
Two key equations in economics:
1. Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
2. Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

THE RECESSION CLOCK
Monetary Sovereignty Monetary Sovereignty

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the lines rise.

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

John Boehner’s and Ted Cruz’s “good” fight

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor,
which ultimately leads to civil disorder.
●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.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The penalty for ignorance is slavery.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive.

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

US economy, confidence hurt by budget showdown

The credit rating agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s estimated that the partial closure of the government from October 1 would slice 0.5-0.6 percentage points from annualized growth in the fourth quarter.

S&P said the shutdown took $24 billion from the economy, as hundreds of thousands of government workers stayed at home unsure of getting paid, government contracts were delayed and national parks that drive crucial tourist industries were closed.

Because of that, several economists cut their forecasts for fourth quarter growth to around 2 percent, barely enough to generate the jobs needed to pull down unemployment.

————————————————————————–

Gridlock Has Cost U.S. Billions, and the Meter Is Still Running
By Anie Lowrey, Nathaniel Popper and Nelson D. Schwartz

Containers of goods idling at ports. Reduced sales at sandwich shops in downtown Washington. Canceled vacations to national parks and to destinations abroad. Reduced corporate earnings forecasts. Higher interest payments on short-term debt.

The cost of Congress’s gridlock has already run well into the billions, economists estimate. And the total will continue to grow even after the shutdown ends, partly because of uncertainty about whether lawmakers might reach another deadlock early next year.

(It will) take a bite out of fourth-quarter growth, which will affect employment, business earnings and borrowing costs.

————————————————————————–

David Gergen, CNN Senior Political Analyst

This (shutdown) has cut off services to women and children in need, furloughed hundreds of thousands, further shaken the confidence of the public, sent a shudder through the financial world and created new storm clouds over the economy. And once again the world is wondering about our capacity for leadership.

————————————————————————–

Rep. Pete King Says Ted Cruz Will Do It Again, Threaten Other House Reps

He’s going to be coming back, rewriting history, saying, ‘We were on the verge of victory back in October, and we could have won if we’d just stayed in there another week.’ And he’s going to have phone calls being made, and he’s going to have town hall meetings. And he’s going to have all those support groups out there, threatening to downgrade people on their scorecards and all that stuff.

————————————————————————–

John Boehner: “We fought the good fight.”

The agreement to suspend the debt ceiling and fund the federal government will create a bipartisan committee with a target of December 13 for preparing a deficit reduction plan.

The deal sets the stage for future fights. This will give lawmakers the perfect opportunity to stage more grandstanding and theatrics.

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

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
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. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here)

—–

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.
Two key equations in economics:
1. Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
2. Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

THE RECESSION CLOCK
Monetary Sovereignty Monetary Sovereignty

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the lines rise.

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–What is the fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats, and what can be done about it?

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor,
which ultimately leads to civil disorder.
●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.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The penalty for ignorance is slavery.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive.

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

No one can be more stupid than a smart person.

When reputedly brilliant, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia decided money equals speech, he uttered one of the less intelligent defenses of the thoroughly unintelligent Citizens United decision, “the more speech, the better.”

(As an aside, he compounded his lack of wisdom by giving the example of not limiting newspaper editorials, an example that has nothing to do with political contributions.)

Our vote is the ultimate method by which we Americans speak to our political representatives, and their vote is the ultimate method by which politicians speak to us Americans. Giving the wealthiest Americans virtually unlimited political spending rights is tantamount to giving them virtually unlimited votes.

Admittedly, spending does not always buy enough votes to win an election. But even after elections, spending does buy the votes of politicians in office.

The upper .1% income group has bribed the President of the United States and the Congress (via campaign contributions and promises of lucrative employment), to pass laws widening the gap between the rich and the rest. Citizens United greatly facilitates this bribery, this magnification of speech.

Political bribery is bolstered by “The Big Lie,” the statement that the federal debt and deficit are too large, unaffordable, unsustainable and somehow similar to personal debt and deficits.

The Big Lie provides an easy excuse for ongoing efforts to cut spending on virtually everything that benefits the poor and middle classes: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, poverty aid, federal employment and aid to the states.

But how are Republicans and Democrats different?

While nearly all politicians are bribed by the upper .1%, what is the difference between Republicans and Democrats (i.e. between the ultra right wing and the right wing, there being no left wing in today’s political climate, )?

Republicans not only claim no empathy for the less fortunate, they despise the less fortunate. Republicans believe the poor reap their well-deserved rewards for indolence, ignorance and immorality, and if only “those people” worked harder and were less evil, they would not need to rely on “handouts” from the government.

The ultra right wing remains intentionally blind to the fact that the entire U.S. tax code, with its generous provisions for capital gains, interest, tax shelters and overseas financing, represents a gigantic “handout” to the rich.

The right wing (aka the Democrates) claims empathy for the less fortunate. But those same Democrats also spread The Big Lie, and also vote to reduce Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, poverty aid, federal employment and aid to the states.

Democrats joined the ultra right wing in voting for the sequester, the primary difference in philosophy being: Which benefits for the poor and middle class are to be cut most.

Both parties supported the increase in FICA, the worst tax in American history, falling almost exclusively on the backs of the middle and lower classes.

So, in answer to the headline question: There is no fundamental difference between the ultra right wing and the right wing. The difference is only of degree.

The right has won; the left has died.

Citizens United was only the latest nail in the left-wing coffin. There will be more, as the bribery continues. The chorus grows for “tax simplification,” i.e. a flat tax that will increase the amount paid by the least wealthy among us, while reducing taxes on the rich.

(Prediction: “Tax simplification” will contain many exceptions for the kinds of income most associated with the wealthy.)

Because Social Security, which benefits the poor and middle classes, supposedly is “unsustainable” (part of The Big Lie), it repeatedly has been cut via taxation and delayed benefits, and eventually will be privatized to benefit Wall Street investment firms.

Medicare also falsely is called “unsustainable.” The expansion of Medicare known as “Obamacare” (Romneycare”?), which covers millions more people, was not granted sufficient federal funds for this expansion, so the middle class will pay for the lower class – a device to push the middle down to the lower – thus widening the gap between the rich and the rest.

Federally funded Medicare for Everyone, a solution that would benefit the middle and lower classes, is not even under consideration – by either party – though it easily could be implemented and supported by the federal government, with no FICA at all, and with great benefit to America.

The Big Lie has weighed upon us for many years. Though Reagan’s “Government is not a solution to our problem. Government is the problem” probably set the stage for today’s extreme situation, the Tea Party can take credit for the utter demise of the left wing.

Among their “15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefs” are these two:
“10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must.
11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory.”

Actually, very they are very good beliefs, but not when combined with these three truly awful ideas:
“6. Government must be downsized.
7. The national budget must be balanced.
8. Deficit spending must end.”

They comprise the core of The Big Lie, and both the ultra right wing party and the right wing party subscribe to these beliefs.

Sadly, no political party in America speaks The Big Truth: Increased federal deficit spending not only is affordable and sustainable, but is necessary to grow the economy, reduce unemployment, solidify retirement benefits for our senior citizens, provide medical care for all Americans and narrow the too-wide gap between the rich and the rest.

I subscribe to the two-party, presidential system, as opposed to the multi-party, parliamentary system. But today, we have a one-party system. Though the Republican ultra right, fights fiercely with the Democrat right, it is more of a brother-on-brother battle. They fight over minutia. The fundamentals are the same.

The solution: America needs a truly left wing party, to balance the right wing, and to speak for the 99%. If it ever comes, it will begin with a charismatic liberal. Clinton could have been the one, but he caved.

Obama too, could have been the one, but he too yielded to the siren song of Scalia’s “free speech,”bribe money. Like Clinton, Obama will leave office to become very rich; his wife will become very rich; his children will become very rich and he will have a fine presidential library.

And the gap between the super rich and us will continue to grow.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

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.
Two key equations in economics:
1. Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
2. Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–More on the Republican plan to attract voters

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor,
which ultimately leads to civil disorder.
●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.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The penalty for ignorance is slavery.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive.

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

Having lost the most recent election, the Republicans know they must change their bigoted, cynical, obstructionist, anti-young, anti-poor, anti-immigrant, anti-black, anti-Latino, anti-gay, anti-elderly, anti-women image.

We discussed this in the previous post, The Republican plan to win the election and save America.

Here are excerpts from an article to show the Republicans now have learned their lesson:

TPMDC
House Republicans Quietly Return To Budget Stand-Off Mode, Renew Risk Of Government Shutdown
BRIAN BEUTLER JUNE 5, 2013

House Republicans have quietly returned to the stand-off driven approach to budgeting and must-pass legislation that was their hallmark before President Obama’s re-election.

(The new) blueprint calls for enormous cuts to spending on everything from science research to education to health care, in order to rescue the Defense Department and other politically favored agencies from the ravages of sequestration.

The alternative to cutting research, education healthcare, etc., etc. would have been to end sequestration. But ending sequestration does not advance the Republicans’ real goal: Appeasing the upper 1% income group by widening the gap between the rich and the rest.

“What the Republican did was cynically use the rule on a bill that will provide spending for our veterans — which is something we all support — to slash the part of the budget the funds our kids’ education and our investments and treatments and cures for cancer and other diseases. Slash that budget by over 20 percent below the sequester,” explained Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) — House Dems’ top budget guy.

Republican top priorities: Making war (to reward the rich owners of the weapons industry). Bottom of the list: Education, retirement and health care.

“The overall spending level is at the sequester levels,” Van Hollen added. “The veterans bill is going to be funded at pre-sequester levels. That’s going to be funding at a healthy level as if sequestration did not exist. And they’re going to do that for defense…. It means you’re cutting other parts of the budget below sequester level.

The Obama administration has threatened to veto this bill unless it’s ultimately included in a broader effort to set the rest of the budget right. In other words, no special treatment for Veterans Affairs or the Pentagon, particularly if it comes at the expense of other spending priorities.

Ironically, strong bipartisan showings for individual GOP-backed spending bills — for veterans, the Pentagon, etc. — will make it harder for Obama to sustain his veto threats.

Get it? The Republicans will propose spending that is widely favored, but which will use up the money that was supposed to be reserved for the social programs that benefit the young, the poor, the immigrants, the blacks, the Latinos, the gays, the elderly and the women — programs already cut by the sequester.

If Obama tries to veto, he will have to veto popular and worthwhile programs, so Congress will be forced to override his veto. Even if Obama is successful, the Republicans will claim the President doesn’t care about veterans and soldiers.

Gotcha!

And this is how the Republicans have changed their image.

(Of course, a small part if this is the Democrat’s fault. They too voted for the sequester. That monstrously harmful law opens the door to monstrous evil against the 99%, and the Republicans always are happy to step through that door.)

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

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.
Two key equations in economics:
1. Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
2. Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY