–Barack Obama and the Chicago way

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 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.
=====================================================================

Last year, Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago boy, who became governor of Illinois, was sent to prison for 14 years. He tried to sell a Senate seat. Selling is the Chicago way.

Also last year, the Chicago Sun Times published an article titled, “Alderman: ‘you almost have to be a priest to be in public service’,” by Fran Spielman, City Hall Reporter, August 9, 2012. The lead read, “It’s hard to imagine anyone comparing Chicago aldermen to priests, considering the steady drumbeat of corruption that has sent 31 present and former aldermen to prison since the 1970’s.”

Wisecracks about priests and prison aside, 31 aldermen selling their influence is just a small example of the Chicago way.

And then, there was the boss crook, Mayor Richard M. Daley, who sold the Chicago Skyway toll road to his pals. Then he sold Chicago’s parking meters to other pals. Needless to say, tolls and parking costs rose hugely — paid by the poor citizens.

Daley was trying to sell Midway Airport when the criticism reached new heights, so he quit office, and accepted lucrative jobs from his pals. Daley, and his father before him, was a master of the Chicago way.

And now comes Chicagoan Barack Obama and Chicagoan Penny Pritzker:

Penny Pritzker is pick as commerce secretary
Longtime Barack Obama backer may face tough questions about her business dealings

Chicago business executive Penny Pritzker was introduced Thursday as Obama’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department.

Pritzker, a member of Chicago’s wealthiest family, was an early supporter of Obama’s. With a personal fortune estimated at $1.85 billion, Pritzker is listed by Forbes magazine among the 300 wealthiest Americans.

She played an influential role in Obama’s rise from Illinois state senator to the nation’s 44th president, serving as Obama’s national finance chair in his first campaign for the White House and co-chair of his re-election bid.

Her friendship with the president gives her a unique ability as part of the economic team,” said Chicagoan Bill Daley, commerce secretary under Bill Clinton and White House chief of staff to Obama.

There’s that “Daley” name again, this time belonging to Mayor Richard Daley’s brother, another Chicagoan.

The Pritzker family has had multiple disputes with the Internal Revenue Service about its overseas tax shelters. Pritzker is likely to be asked about the 2001 failure of Superior Bank, based in Hinsdale, where Pritzker was chairman from 1991 to 1994.

The bank gave loans to people who couldn’t afford to repay them and then sold portions of the notes to investors — a strategy similar to one that contributed to the near-collapse of the nation’s economy less than a decade later.

Chairman of a failed bank that created worthless mortgages, then bundled them into worthless securities and sold these worthless securities to investors: That, plus giving Obama hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars, makes good Chicago credentials for commerce secretary.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday welcomed Pritzker, whose personal network, business credentials and family name have served Obama well.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a huge cheerleader for austerity, i.e. for widening the gap between the rich and the rest.

She has few to no allies within organized labor. Hyatt has long battled the Unite Here union in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere. And Pritzker has been harshly criticized by the Chicago Teachers Union. A union official said she “has a long and storied history as an anti-labor and anti-worker kind of boss.”

Anyone know any pro-union rich people?

Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Pritzker a “champion for our students and our city” who has shown “incredible commitment and leadership in her every business, civic and philanthropic endeavor.”

Remember Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff? Yep, he too is a Chicagoan. He went to New Trier High School in Chicago’s most affluent suburban area, called “the North Shore.” (Disclosure: He was my son-in-law’s classmate.)

According to Wikipedia:

Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac by President Clinton in 2000. He earned at least $320,000 during his time there, including later stock sales.

During Emmanuel’s time on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities. The Obama Administration rejected a request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel’s time as a director.

Put them all together — Blagojevich (Senate seat), Daley (toll road, parking meters), aldermen (selling influence), Pritzker (failed bank, selling worthless securities), Emanuel (money scandals) — and you have a pattern of greed, we in Chicago refer to as the “Chicago way.”

So when I tell my academic friends, “Barack Obama has been bribed by the upper .1% to gut Social Security, gut Medicaid, gut Medicare, gut aid to the poor” — when I say he has been bribed to support austerity, which has destroyed the lives of ordinary people all over the world — when I accuse him of being bribed to widen the gap between the rich and the rest — when I say these things and people tell me “there is no proof,” I only can shake my head in wonderment at their naivety.

Here is my prediction: You can write it down, and if I’m wrong, you can throw it in my face: The insanely wealthy Pritzker family will lead the way in collecting (i.e putting the arm on rich folks) for a giant Barack Obama Library in Chicago.

The Pritzkers also will “encourage” charitable and other groups to book the Obamas for speeches at monstrous fees.

And their daughters will receive high-paying jobs from rich “friends” of the Pritzkers.

Chicago may have a reputation as a rough, tough town, but we know how to say, “Thank you.”

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
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%

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:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–One poll: What America believes about the likelihood of revolution

Last month, we posted, “When, the revolution?” It included these comments:

Since both parties are criminal, I’m beginning to wonder — dare I say it — whether this nation is headed for revolution. I sure hope not, but with the President and the entire Congress being owned by the .1%, for whom does one vote? The people don’t understand what’s happening — they are brainwashed with debt-cutting lies — especially since the media and economists also are owned by the rich. The people pinned their hopes and dreams on Obama, but the greed of the “Deporter in Chief” and “Captain Austerity” bested him. He sold his soul for a Presidential Library, lucrative speaking engagements for his wife and him, and big jobs for his daughters. As for the people, frustrated and feeling there is nowhere to turn, the people may lash out. They lack only a charismatic leader — an empathetic, Rooseveltian figure — to give them voice and strength.

To many readers, this seemed unthinkable. Yes, the United States was formed on revolution. And yes, the civil war was a revolution. So yes, revolution is in our history. But really? Revolution in modern America?

TPMDC Poll: 29% Think Armed Rebellion Might Soon Be Necessary Three in 10 registered American voters believe an armed rebellion might be necessary in the next few years, according to the results of a poll released Wednesday by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind.

Less educated, right-wingers are the strongest believers, “revolution might be necessary to protect our liberties.” This is the group that has been most affected by debt reduction (austerity), though I suspect (without evidence) this ironically also is the group that most favors austerity. With this same group — the less educated, right-wingers — probably being the most ardent gun owners (again, no proof), I suspect all they lack is that charismatic leader to send them on murderous street rampages. These are America’s angry. They are angry at foreign-born, legally here or not. They are angry at gays, blacks, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, atheists, people who have more money than they do, people they consider “freeloaders.” They are angry at “people who want to take our guns away” (the guns the Tea Party calls “sacred.”) They are angry at the government and the courts, and especially are angry at the very rich. They are angry at what they perceive to be an unfair world, in which some powerful groups wrongly receive advantages at the expense of good people. Yes, it could happen here. WILL it happen here? We all should pray not. We don’t want an America filled with crazed nuts, exercising their 2nd Amendment rights to kill their neighbors. The operative word is: “Unnecessary”. Affluent people don’t begin armed resurrections. America has too much unnecessary poverty; too much unnecessary hardship caused by unnecessary austerity and augmented by latent bigotry. The .1% have bribed the politicians, the media and the mainstream schools of economics to support poverty-causing, wealth-gap widening austerity, and to these super-rich — to the Petersons, the Kochs et al — I say, “Be careful what you wish.” “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” Remember: The privileged were early to the guillotine, but ultimately, no one was safe. Rodger Malcolm Mitchell Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

…………………..

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT IS TO IMPROVE AND PROTECT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.

The most important problems in economics involve:

Monetary Sovereignty describes money creation and destruction.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”

Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics. Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps: Ten Steps To Prosperity:

The Ten Steps will grow the economy and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest. MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Why Privatization? Here’s why:

In much of America, the electric company, casinos and horse tracks are privately owned, while streets, elementary schools and the lottery are publicly owned? Why?

The April 1, 2013 post, The myth of private enterprise superiority, reduced government and Ronald Reagan, said:

I believe the myth of universal private-sector superiority took hold when President Ronald Reagan included in his first inaugural address, the magical line, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

It became an addictive slogan, a mantra for those who would rather not suffer the agony of thought and evaluation (though Reagan, himself a government worker, set records for increasing the size of government

The Tea Party claim, “Government must be downsized” is made without reference to facts. It is intuitive, similar to their, “Deficit spending must end.” — also intuitive and also unburdened by fact.

The April 12 post What President Obama learned from Mayor Daley said:

“To gain repeated reelection, (the 2nd Mayor) Daley paid off the local unions by giving them whatever they wanted, and paid off the aldermen, who obediently canvassed their neighborhoods for Daley votes. The ongoing payoffs cost the city’s taxpayers megabucks.

Daley was afraid to raise taxes even more, so he began to sell Chicago. First he sold the Chicago Skyway, a heavily traveled toll road. This deprived Chicago’s taxpayers of the road’s future income. The rich, new owners promptly raised tolls, a hidden tax increase, and a boon to the wealthy class.

Then Daley sold the city’s parking meters. This also deprived Chicago’s taxpayers of future income. The rich, new owners promptly raised parking fees, another hidden tax, also a boon to the wealthy class. Then Daley wanted to sell Midway airport, the 2nd busiest airport in the Chicago area.

Both the public and private sectors have their its crooks — their Daleys and Madoffs. Similarly, both sectors have strengths and weaknesses in customer service, productivity, creativity and efficiency.

The federal government built our highways, took us to the moon and defends our nation. Local governments provide police protection, clean water, streets and education.

The private sector feeds us, houses us and gives us medical care (though the public sector pays for much of it).

Saying the government (federal, state or local) is too big, is as stupid as saying the private sector is too big. The argument makes no sense, which probably is why the right wing supports it.

Privatization usually is a “Get out of jail, free” card for monetarily non-sovereign governments afraid to raise taxes or for Monetarily Sovereign governments falsely claiming taxes need to be raised. The result is a quick payment exchanged for long-term payments to wealthy investors — an endless tax on the middle- and lower-classes, without the word “tax” applied to it.

Privatization is a payoff to the rich private sector, exchanged for mega-dollars in campaign funds and promises of lucrative employment, later. It’s a gift from the 99.9% to the .1%.

We were reminded of this when an article appeared in the Chicago Tribune:

ComEd rate hike request would add $6 to monthly bills
By Julie Wernau, Tribune reporter, April 29, 2013

Commonwealth Edison said Monday that it will charge $6 more per month on average to deliver electricity to utility customers beginning in 2014 as a result of higher transmission costs and expenses it has incurred to modernize the electrical grid.

In a filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission Monday — its third under a new formula-based rate making system devised in 2011 — the utility requested $311 million in additional revenue from customers in 2014 for its role in delivering electricity, maintaining electrical lines and improving the electrical grid. That increase must be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

It’s hard to understand why the private sector delivers our electricity, a product used and needed by every citizen — much like streets and elementary schools. In Illinois, we have the cockamamie system in which politicians approve pricing, while a private company delivers the electricity and maintains the electric lines, and having zero motivation for efficiency. ComEd managers are guaranteed their pay by the state, no matter the cost, and customers have no voice — neither via the ballot nor via patronage.

The above article was accompanied by this one:

ComEd ranks low in consumer satisfaction.
By Julie Wernau, Tribune reporter, April 18, 2013

Since 1999, ComEd has consistently ranked among the worst utilities in the Midwest for customer satisfaction in surveys conducted by The American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power and Associates. The company scored 69 on a 100-point scale.

The primary difference between public and private organizations is the profit motive, which can be a blessing or a curse. In a competitive business the profit motive more often is a blessing (one notable exception being the airlines, which never should have been deregulated). In a monopoly business, the profit motive is a curse (as witness the gasoline/oil business).

Governments have divided responses: To customers via elections, and to rich donors. Private companies also have divided responses — to officers, to shareholders and to customers. In the case of the privately-owned monopoly, ComEd, customers seem to come last.

Because ComEd cannot be trusted to set equitable rates, government bureaucrats set them. But the rates merely are based on what the private company says its costs are. So, in effect, the private company sets the rates. The profit motive doesn’t work, here.

Bottom-line thoughts:

1. The federal government neither is too big nor too small (nor just right). The concept is meaningless as are arguments about it. The right wing, Tea Party goal of small government is foolish at best and criminal at worst.

2. Large monopolies, whose product/service is needed by the majority of citizens, usually do better for the public with government ownership. The model is elementary education, in which public schools are government owned, but often compete with private schools.

Governments should own the providers of electricity, water, natural gas, sewage disposal, trash disposal, streets and street repair, police/army/espionage protection, education and the regulation of private business. “Own” can include government funding of private enterprises for specific tasks, but the overall project, including pricing and operational direction, should be wholly government controlled.

Turkey plans giant privatization campaign

Turkey has sold several state-owned assets worth nearly $41 billion in recent years, and the head of the country’s privatization agency said Thursday the government planned to launch an even more robust period of privatization in 2011.

Why Privatization? You have only to ask, “Who is getting rich from this?”

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–Does the Tea Party still exist?

I thought I’d drop in on the Tea Party web site to see if they still exist. Not having heard any of their silly proposals lately, I was concerned for their survival.

If fear is necessary for bravery, sadness necessary for happiness, poverty necessary for affluence and losing necessary for winning, then stupidity is necessary for intelligence, which means the Tea Party is necessary for America.

And yes, they still are there, still stupid, and to prove it, still announcing their “15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefs” (with my comments appended):

1. Illegal aliens are here illegally. (It’s a tautology, but what does it mean? Shoot them? Arrest them? Deport them? Deny them and their children food, housing and medical care? Or is this just an open invitation to do to these people, anything we wish, so long as it’s really cruel?)

2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable. (We are against unemployment and importing.)

3. A strong military is essential. (Except when it has to be cut because of budget cuts, in which case it isn’t essential.)

4. Special interests must be eliminated. (Except when the special interest is gun ownership or anti-immigration.)

5. Gun ownership is sacred. (The Bible is sacred. The Koran is sacred. Guns are sacred. They all are sacred.)

6. Government must be downsized. (Because government provides benefits to the poor and middle classes, which narrows the gap vs.the rich.)

7. The national budget must be balanced. (Combine this with the tax reductions of #10 and #11, and government spending will begin to disappear. Social Security, Medicare, poverty aid, food and drug inspections, interstate highways, the military, disaster assistance, the FBI, the CIA, the Supreme Court, Congress, the President, the courts, education, science and research & development are for wimps. We are self-sufficient macho men. Anarchy is nice.)

8. Deficit spending must end. (What? You say this is identical with #7? Gee, our bad. Anyway, we sort of ran out of ideas, and we needed fifteen “core beliefs.”)

9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal. (We have no idea what a “stimulus plan” is. But, we want the recession to go on, forever. It’s good for the rich.)

10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must. (Hey, see, we have a good idea!)

11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory. (Hey, another good idea. But, what is the difference between “a must” and “mandatory”? Just askin’.)

12. Political offices must be available to average citizens. (We don’t know what “available” and “average” mean in this context, but it sounds so patriotic, we couldn’t resist.)

13. Intrusive government must be stopped. (Yes, we know every law is “intrusive” to a law breaker, but what we really mean is “intrusive in our sole opinion” — like forcing people to stop shooting each other. Way too intrusive.)

14. English as our core language is required. (Except for grandma — my grandma, that is. Your grandma better learn real fast, or else! Of course, no one can learn English, because we won’t allow our schools to teach English. Gotcha!)

15. Traditional family values are encouraged. (My traditions, that is. I really don’t give a damn about your traditions.)

With Jerry Lewis long retired, and Jay Leno about to go off the air, I was afraid we would be left with only Michele (“Be submissive wives”) Bachmann and John (“The government is broke”) Boehner for our daily helping of nuttiness.

Thankfully, the Tea Party and Justice Scalia remain with us.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: