Ignorance is costing you. It’s what you want.

Ignorance is not stupidity. While stupidity can cause ignorance, ignorance cannot cause stupidity. We all are ignorant about many things. Each of us is ignorant about all but a minuscule fraction of what there is to know. Sadly, most of us are ignorant about federal government financing. Which do you believe:

The purpose of federal government taxes is to help pay the government’s bills.
The federal government borrows dollars to help pay its bills.
The federal government can unintentionally run short of dollars.
The federal debt should be reduced.
Our children and grandchildren will have to pay the federal debt.
Federal spending can cause inflation.
Federal deficits should be reduced.
The federal government should run a balanced budget.
Federal finances are similar to state/local government finances.
The federal debt ceiling is a fiscally prudent limit.

The 20 Most Notorious Con Artists of All-Time — **Even Bernie Madoff couldn’t imagine a con a large as the trillions-of-dollars “debt crisis” con.**

As the smart and fiscally knowledgeable people know, all of the above statements are false. How many did you get right? The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign has the infinite ability to create dollars. It not only doesn’t use tax dollars; it destroys them upon receipt. The primary purpose of federal taxes is to control the economy by taxing what the government wishes to discourage. The federal “debt” isn’t a debt; it’s deposits, and neither the debt nor the deficit is an obligation of the government, of you, or of your grandchildren. No one ever will pay for the “debt.” The deposited money simply will be returned upon maturity. In short, there is no federal “debt crisis.” It’s a con by the rich that is far bigger than anything Bernie Madoff could imagine. The purpose: To make you accept fewer benefits from the government. Federal deficits are necessary for economic growth. Shortages, not federal spending, cause inflation. A federal balanced budget would cause a recession or a depression. Federal finances are nothing like state/local government finances, nothing like business finances, and nothing like your or my finances. The federal government uniquely is Monetarily Sovereign. It never unintentionally can run short of dollars. Keep these facts in mind as we go through the following article:

America’s giant medical debt Adriel Bettelheim

Americans owe at least $195 billion of medical debt, despite 90% of the population having some kind of health coverage, according to new research from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The fundamental purpose of government is to improve and protect the lives of the people being governed. How does requiring payment to the federal government improve or protect the lives of the people?

Why it matters: People are spending down their savings and skimping on food, clothing and household items to pay their medical bills.

About 16 million people, or 6% of U.S. adults, owe more than $1,000 in medical bills, and 3 million people owe more than $10,000.

The financial burden falls disproportionately on people with disabilities, those in generally poor health, Black Americans and people living in the South or in non-Medicaid expansion states, per the research.

“People living in the South or in non-Medicaid expansion states” live where Republicans govern. This is not a coincidence. The right-wing philosophy is to benefit the rich by widening the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and he rest. The rich wish to be richer, and widening the Gap makes them richer. The very definition of “rich” involves a wide income/wealth/power Gap. Nor is it a coincidence that these are the same states enacting laws to make voting more difficult for the poor and for people of color. (See “Gap Psychology.”)

16% of privately-insured adults say they would need to take on credit card debt to meet an unexpected $400 medical expense, while 7% would borrow money from friends or family, per the research, which focused on adults who reported having more than $250 in unpaid bills as of December 2019.

It’s not yet clear how much the pandemic and the recession factor into the picture, in part because man people delayed or went without care. There also was a small shift from employer-based coverage to Medicaid, which has little or no cost-sharing.

While the new federal ban on surprise billing limits exposure to some unexpected expenses, it only covers a fraction of the large medical bills many Americans face, the researchers say.

The solution to the medical debt problem is federal support. The federal government should offer comprehensive, no-deductible, generous Medicare coverage to every man, woman, and child in America. The plan should be optional. Those who wish to keep their private insurance should be allowed to do so, though one wonders why anyone would wish to. (Presumably, there may be some anti-government types who would prefer to pay for what they could receive without cost.) This plan should cover everything that could be considered “medical”: Dental, psychiatric, rehabilitation, home rehab for disability, pharmaceuticals, etc. The payments to healthcare workers and hospitals should be generous, to attract people into the profession and to encourage the building of more and better hospitals. There is nothing wrong with doctors, nurses and hospital personnel getting rich. Even if some might get rich for doing little, that is better than Americans being impoverished, through no fault of their own, by the cost of disease. Federal support of medical research should be increased, and rather than trying to cut prescription costs, the government should encourage research by rewarding successful drugs. Federal spending costs you nothing. It is the ultimate free lunch. The reluctance to spend is an artificial limitation placed on the government by the very rich, who do not want the rest of us to receive the same benefits they receive. The rich can afford the best doctor-care, the best nurse-care, the best hospital-care, the best pharmaceuticals, the best rehabilitation. The rich can afford to travel for abortions, while the rest are required to have unwanted and unaffordable babies. The rich also can afford the best schools for their kids. They receive tax breaks on their homes while you pay for your rental. They write off their meals and their transportation, even their clothing and their vacations, all as business expenses. And while the rich go years without paying any taxes because they receive tax breaks of which you can’t even dream, they complain about your receipt of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and poverty benefits. Why is this happening? Because they have convinced you that federal deficit spending for your benefits somehow will be bad for you and for America. In short, this is happening because of your ignorance. I’m sorry to put it so bluntly, but there is no other way to say it. You could have the same benefits the rich take for granted, but you have been sold the bill of goods that says, “They deserve the best and you don’t.” Because of your ignorance of the facts, you meekly sit back and accept crumbs. You vote for the people who lie to you. You can’t even visualize having what the federal government easily can provide to you. You are so ignorant you will become enraged at, and ridicule, anyone who tries to tell you the truth. You excuse your ignorance by claiming federal benefits are “socialism” or “communism,” though they are neither. You demand to lead a lesser life, and when you receive that lesser life, you grumble about it. You simply cannot bring yourself to believe that the federal government can afford to give you the same, beautiful life benefits it gives to the rich, without collecting a dime from you in taxes. Because you think of yourself as “lesser,” you receive less and sadly, you deserve what you receive. And to keep those below you on the income/wealth/scale from climbing up, you’ll vote against their benefits, too, because you don’t understand that a vote against the poor rebounds as a vote against you. Ignorance does that. You are the people who buy lottery tickets, hoping for a mathematical miracle, when the federal government has the power to give you the life you pray for, and it wouldn’t require a miracle. All you need do is learn and demand, and if enough of you do that, you will win life’s lottery, courtesy of your government. Or, stay ignorant. Your choice. Rodger Malcolm Mitchell P.S. This doesn’t apply to citizens of France, Italy, Spain, Greece, and the other euro nations. Your government gave away its Monetary Sovereignty many years ago. You might do better buying lottery tickets. Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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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

The only way to teach children right from wrong

“Right” and “wrong” are social conventions that differ among societies. Canibals think eating people is just fine. Aztecs supposedly enjoyed ripping out hearts. Slavery was de rigueur in America. You were not born knowing right from wrong. You learned from your family and friends. You learned from your schools and other outside sources.

There is only one way to teach children right from wrong. Children must be taught what is right and taught what is wrong. They must be taught the truth.

So, for instance, if your family and friends were bigots — — i.e. intolerant of people because of their race, religion, or sexual orientation — and your schools said nothing about bigotry, you probably would have become a bigot. Why would your family and friends teach you bigotry? Because their families and friends taught them bigotry, a chain extending down through the generations, families and friends teaching bigotry as a standing tradition. Why would your schools say nothing? Perhaps because of laws that prevented them from teaching you right from wrong, for fear you would find such teaching “uncomfortable.” Although you, like most people, probably harbor some forms of bigotry in your heart, you probably also agree that bigotry, in general, is a sin. How do we solve that dichotomy and break the historical chain? I was reminded of that question when some years ago, on a visit to Germany, I toured the Dachau concentration camp.

Dachau’s commandant, Theodor Eicke, introduced a system of regulations which inflicted brutal punishments on prisoners for the slightest offenses, while scientists there conducted cruel experiments. Prisoners were subjected to injections of malaria and tuberculosis, and the untold thousands that died from hard labor or torture were routinely burned in the on-site crematorium. As Allied units approached, at least 25,000 prisoners from the Dachau camp system were force-marched south. During these death marches, the Germans shot anyone who could no longer continue; many also died of starvation, hypothermia, or exhaustion. When American forces liberated Dachau, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies.

I was able to tour the camp because the German government neither hid nor denied the existence of the horrors committed there. In fact, they use the camp as a reminder of the past, to help prevent a repeat. A movie describing in detail, the horrors of the camp, is shown to daily busloads of German school children as a right-vs.-wrong lesson. The German people, but for a small minority, do not celebrate the misdeeds of Naziism. There are no statues of Hitler in Germany. The Holocaust is revealed and decried. The Germans do not fear admitting this dark period of their history. In fact, they actively teach it. I think of that approach to the shameful parts of Germany’s heritage when I compare it to the American — or rather, the right-wing — approach to the horrors of our past and even of our present.

Nearly 100 Confederate Monuments Removed In 2020, Report Says; More Than 700 Remain : NPR

Slavery was an abomination that was celebrated by statues which, at long last, were pulled down despite claims of “Southern heritage.” And today, in America, “well-meaning, good citizens,” protest against teaching the parts of our past that shame us. Their stated concern is that such reminders and revelations would make their children “uncomfortable.” But ignorance is uncomfortable. Bigotry is uncomfortable. Denial does not change reality. Today, our black families continue to undergo hardship. No, it isn’t of Holocaust levels, but still is terribly destructive and wholly unnecessary in our wealthy nation. GOP advocated denial is the worst approach because it teaches no lessons. It condemns us to repeat the sins of the past.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.

We neither can, nor should try, to erase the blemishes of our past. Nor should anyone blame our children for our sins or for the sins of those who came before us. Leveling such blame would, in itself, be bigotry. The purpose of teaching history is not to lay blame or to create guilt, but to help us know our own successes and foibles, and the circumstances that can move a nation to bigotry and hatred. We are not pure. No nation is. Pretending purity is blindness and naivete. Let us be honest with ourselves. To some degree, we all receive mistreatment at times, but in America people of color have been, and still are, disproportionately mistreated. We allow the teaching of the Holocaust, and even have museums dedicated to that education. Few object, because it was the Germans, and to a degree, the Poles, Austrians, French and others who committed those crimes. But the teaching of racism in America is an anathema to some Americans, because it is we, or more correctly, some of us, who are the perpetrators. And to hide that historical fact, we countenance angry denial. This brings us to something called “Critical Race Theory,” perhaps the most reviled yet least understood and least taught academic subject in education.

Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies. One example: In the 1930s, government officials literally drew lines around areas deemed poor financial risks, often explicitly due to the racial composition of inhabitants. Banks subsequently refused to offer mortgages to Black people in those areas. Scholars who study critical race theory in education look at how policies and practices in K-12 education contribute to persistent racial inequalities in education, and advocate for ways to change them. Among the topics they’ve studied: racially segregated schools, the underfunding of majority-Black and Latino school districts, disproportionate disciplining of Black students, barriers to gifted programs and selective-admission high schools, and curricula that reinforce racist ideas.

Solving racial inequalities first requires admitting that they exist and then admitting that they should be solved. And that requires study. Sadly, there are those who deny any study is necessary, deny such inequalities exist to be solved, and claim any such equalities are the fault of the Black students — a “blame-the-victim” rationalization. The Catholic confessional begins, “Forgive me father for I have sinned.” The confession of sin is the first necessary step for absolution. Without realization and confession, the sin compounds. The Germans seem to have understood that the denial of sin is in itself a sin. “Forgive America, father, for we have sinned.” Those are the words of the truly moral, truly righteous. An evil man, like Donald Trump, would have you deny the obvious. He would have you deny the clear fact that people of color have received worse treatment in America than white Christians. That denial compounds the evil. For you who are religious, here is are reminders:

John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Perhaps you are one of those rare souls who has not sinned and has not felt bigotry in your heart. But to deny, or even to countenance the sins of others against strangers is in itself a sin. Discomfort is not an excuse for denial. Children must be taught about the existence of sin so they can recognize it and learn to avoid it. Without this teaching, the children can be sucked into sin by evil persons. We are not born bigots. We learn to be bigots, unless we first learn about the evils of bigotry. The people who object to the teaching of racism in America often blame their children’s sensitivity. But this is a false excuse. The real reason is, they are ashamed of our past, and want to bury it. But the past has become the present, and it cannot be buried so long as it still lives. The only way to end the shame is to recognize it and to speak against it, else it will not only continue but multiply. Perhaps, the real problem lies not in the reluctance to admit that bigotry exists but rather in the fear of the cures. “Affirmative action” often has involved establishing racial quotas or preferences to “even out” representation in school admissions or job hiring. The problem here is that it invariably requires the less qualified to take precedence over the more qualified, and always will be seen as unfair. Affirmative action” also stigmatizes the very people it is supposed to help — the “You got in only because you are black” appearance, which further adds to the bigotry rather than reducing it. Once we recognize the bigotry problem itself, and once we determine to solve it, the solution lies not at the top but at its foundation: Money and poverty, i.e. the income/wealth/power Gap at the bottom of the financial scale. Lacking money, such minorities as Blacks and Latins suffer poorer primary schools, more crime, less family stability, poorer housing, poorer nutrition, and a desperate culture, where immediate needs take precedence over future plans. These all lead to poorer primary-school academic results which, in turn, lead to less-educated older students and less qualified job- and college applicants. The solution lies not in taking from the top to give to the bottom (which always will be fought by America’s most powerful), or in giving solely to the bottom (which will be viewed as unfair by America’s middle). Rather, the solution is to lift the lower levels far enough above subsistence so that the problems of poorer primary schools, more crime, less family stability, poorer housing, poorer nutrition, and desperation culture cease to impact even the least fortunate among us. This would be a “rising tide” approach that lifts all boats. Examples can be found in the “Ten Steps to Prosperity” (below). For example:

Eliminate the FICA tax
Offer free Medicare to All who want it.
Offer Social Security to All who want it.
Offer free College to All who want it.

Offering the same money to everyone, regardless of current income or wealth, will not affect the lifestyles of the rich, but can lift the poor to levels where school and job achievements are seen as being in reach. It will not evoke cries of “unfairness” and “discomfort” that currently plague the accurate teaching of America’s history.

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[Why would any sane person take dollars from the economy and give them to a federal government that has the infinite ability to create dollars?] Rodger Malcolm Mitchell Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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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.”

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

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

The intractable puzzle: Narrowing the Gap between the rich and the rest

The United States seemingly has puzzled with the problem of the growing Gaps between the rich and the rest of us. I say, “seemingly” because of the spectacular lack of success any remedial effort has had.

**In 20 years, the share of American Net Worth held by the top 1% has risen from above 22% to above 32%.**

Not only have the Gaps widened dramatically in the past 40 years, but there has been a stunning increase in just the past year. To combat the economy-crushing effects of COVID, the government has pumped trillions into the private sector. An inordinate share seems to have benefited the upper 1%. Although virtually all politicians pretend to bemoan the growing income/wealth/power Gap, the Democrats seem unable to enact a solution and the Republicans actively oppose one. We are not alone in this conundrum. Japan faces a similar problem, as excerpts from the following article show:

Big tax break not enough for Japan’s employers to hike pay Japan’s government wants employers to raise wages. By Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno The New York Times

TOKYO — Over the past two years, Masataka Yoshimura has poured money into the custom-suit business his family founded over 100 years ago. He has upgraded his factory, installed automated inventory management systems and retrained workers who have been replaced by software and robots.

Japan’s prime minister wants him to do one more thing: Give his employees a substantial raise.

Wage growth has been stagnant for decades in Japan, the wealth gap is widening and the quickest fix is nudging people like Yoshimura to pay their employees more.

Higher wages, the thinking goes, will jump-start consumer spending and lift Japan’s sputtering economy. But raises are a nonstarter for Yoshimura. Increasing wages would be “truly fatal,” he said last month from his office at Yoshimura & Sons in Tokyo.

And he is far from alone in his thinking. Business groups, union leaders and others have questioned the feasibility of a plan by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to offer sizable tax deductions to companies that raise pay.

That businesses would resist increasing wages even when essentially paid to do so shows just how intractable the problem is. Years of weak growth and moribund inflation rates have left companies little room to raise prices.

The prime minister is calling on employers to increase pay as much as 4% in 2022. Companies that comply will be allowed to increase their overall corporate tax deductions up to 40%.

Japan has many differences from the U.S. — cultural, economic, historical — but both nations seem to agree that the growing Gaps are a bad thing. They are bad, morally. They are bad, economically. They lead to oligarchy. From Wikipedia:

Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, religious, political, or military control.

Throughout history, oligarchies have often been tyrannical, relying on public obedience or oppression to exist.

Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as meaning rule by the rich, for which another term commonly used today is plutocracy.

In the early 20th century Robert Michels developed the theory that democracies, like all large organizations, have a tendency to turn into oligarchies.

In his “Iron law of oligarchy” he suggests that the necessary division of labor in large organizations leads to the establishment of a ruling class mostly concerned with protecting their own power.

Thus, we have a problem (the Gaps), as viewed by the nation as a whole, divorced from those who seemingly can solve the problem (businesses), who don’t see it as a problem at all. Leaving the solution to a problem in the hands of those who don’t view it as a problem, or even who benefit from the problem, can lead only to today’s outcome: The problem grows worse. It’s like telling a woman the “problem” is that her sexy dress attracts too many men, when that is exactly what she wants. She is unlikely to solve the “problem.” Business is unlikely to solve the problem of the widening Gaps when that is exactly what business leaders want. Gap Psychology dictates that people generally wish to widen the Gap below them. How the rich avoid taxes? --- Revealed by Paradise Paper — Steemit

How the rich avoid taxes? --- Revealed by Paradise Paper — Steemit

Reality dictates that the rich wish to become richer, and the term “richer” implies a growing difference vs. “poorer.” Without the Gaps, no one would be rich, and the wider the Gaps, the richer they are. So both the motivation and the power to narrow the Gaps lies not with business, but with government, the sole question being how government should accomplish the narrowing process. Some economists have suggested minimum wage laws, but clearly, these have failed even to approach the goal. The main problem is that wages are a business expense, and successful businesses devote themselves to minimizing expenses. The undeniable fact that wage increases cut profits, stands as a concrete barrier to a business solution. THE SOLUTION The one entity that needn’t worry about profits is the federal government, and it has the perfect Gap-narrowing tool: Tax policy. We must remember that unlike state/local taxes, which fund state/local government spending. federal taxes do not fund federal spending. In fact, the federal government destroys all tax dollars it receives. The federal government pays all of its bills with newly created dollars, ad hoc. It can do this endlessly. No limits. Why then does the federal government collect taxes? The primary purpose of federal tax collection is to control the economy. The federal government taxes what it wishes to discourage and gives tax breaks to what it wishes to encourage. Example: The federal government long has wished to encourage home building and ownership, so it provides to homeowners, many tax breaks that are not available to renters. (The rich mostly are owners, not renters.) Think of tax breaks for: Property taxes, mortgage interest, certain home improvements, mortgage insurance, and deductions from capital gains when you sell your house. The government’s use of tax laws to benefit those the government favors is the primary reason why the rich benefit from tax breaks not available to you. If the government really wanted to narrow the income Gap between the rich and the rest, it first would eliminate the FICA tax. This ultimately regressive tax applies only to the first $137.7K of salary, and not to anything above that level. The person have a salary of $150,000 pays exactly the same amount of FICA as does the person whose salary is $1 million. Half of FICA is deducted directly from paychecks and half ostensibly is paid by the employer. In reality, however, all of FICA comes out of paychecks, because employers figure this cost when deciding what to pay workers. The elimination of FICA (which contrary to popular wisdom, does not fund Social Security or Medicare), immediately would help narrow some of the income and wealth Gaps, particularly the Gaps between lower and middle-income salaried workers vs. upper income workers. Second, the government could provide free, no-deductible Medicare for All. This is an expense ostensibly borne by those companies that provide health care insurance to workers. I say “ostensibly,” because it is a cost that companies consider when determining salaries. Some other Gap-narrowing steps the federal government could take include:

Free college for All.
Social Security for All
Tax deductions for renters
Federally paid salary for attending school, grades K+
Eliminate income tax for all those earning less than $500K per year, adjusted annually for inflation
A reverse sales tax on food and clothing.
Free life insurance policies for all
A wealth tax
Tax the annual value appreciation of stocks and other capital
No-exception tax on inheritance.

In short, there are many steps the federal government easily could take, to narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest. The sole problem is the rich. They don’t want the Gaps narrowed. The Gaps are what makes them rich. Without the Gaps, no one would be rich; we all would be the same. And the wider the Gaps, the richer they are and the poorer we are. So, they use their massive financial power to bribe the politicians and to convince the populace, that these steps would be “unaffordable,” “unsustainable,” “socialism,” “undeserved” by the underclasses, and/or “inflationary.” In truth, the federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign is unique in that it can afford and sustain any financial obligation. It never unintentionally can run short of dollars. None of the above-mentioned steps are socialism, which involves government ownership and control, not just spending. Sadly, the people who cry loudest about “socialism” have the least idea about what socialism is. The less-than-rich deserve the same kind of federal help as do the rich, who like Donald Trump, have found ways to pay zero taxes despite massive earnings. And inflation always is caused by shortages of key goods and services, never by government spending. The currently wide and widening Gaps are not inevitable. They are a choice, an insidious and harmful choice foisted on us by the rich. The sole cure is to find, then elect, someone who understands the problem and the solutions, and who is not under the thumb of the rich — if such people actually exist. 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.”

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

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Why is Medicare the way it is?

The purpose of government is to improve and protect the lives of the governed.

Is the Medicare Advantage plan an admission that Medicare itself is unnecessarily incomplete?

Rolls-Royce Phantom Prices, Reviews and New Model Information — **Free, but with strings.**

A story: You receive a call from the wealthiest man on earth. He owns an infinite amount of money.

He tells you he’s in the mood to do a good deed.

He has picked your name randomly, not based on anything but the luck of the draw, and he is giving you a free, no-strings-attached, Rolls Royce automobile.

Well, actually, there are two small strings. You must choose between two Rolls.

One has no heater. The other has no air conditioning.

And you must wait until you are 65 years old before you pick your car.

This puzzles you, so you ask him, “Why would someone having infinite money decide that when does his good deed, he gifts you a car that is missing either a heater or air conditioner?”

And why must you wait until you’re 65?

What’s his purpose?

While you ponder that question, consider this: The federal government, being uniquely Monetarily Sovereign, has infinite dollars. It never can run short of its own sovereign currency.

The government provides you with Medicare, which comes in two basic “models,” Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

And you typically must wait until you are 65 to join (with certain exceptions).

But Medicare and Medicare Advantage have different options depending on many of your personal factors.

WHY? Why doesn’t Original Medicare simply cover all medical conditions for everyone?

The American Association of Retired People (AARP) published “8 Reasons to Change Medicare:

1. My prescription costs have jumped.
That happens usually due to one of two scenarios: You’ve been prescribed a new drug your Plan D policy doesn’t cover, or your current medicines have fallen off your Plan D’s formulary (list of covered medicines), Neuman says.

Each September, Part D prescription plans will send out a list of changes to drug coverage, giving you time to make sure your medicines are still covered.

If not, you can shop around for another plan or ask your doctor to apply for an exception in covering your favored medicine.

WHY? Why must a person pay extra for Part D, and why must that person shop around for a plan that covers all his medicines?

2. I’ve decided to spend my winters (or summers) in a different state.
Advantage plans typically charge more to go to doctors outside of their networks; in some cases they won’t cover any charges if it’s not an emergency.

So a Midwesterner might have to pay more to see out-of-network doctors while in Florida.

You need to read the details of your plan, or talk with a representative, to know where you stand. If you’ll be living a dual-residence existence for years to come, you might consider a switch to original Medicare, with the usual caveats.

WHY? Why the “in-network, out-of-network” rigamarole?

3. I need surgery and prefer a specific doctor.
Original Medicare allows patients to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare.

But if you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan and its surgeons don’t meet your needs, you may need a different MA plan or to switch to OM.

The people who really need to focus on whether doctors are in network are those who’ve suffered major problems like cancer and heart attack, says Joseph Antos, health care expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

“A specialist may be key to their treatment,” he says.

WHY? Why does one Medicare plan cover any doctors or hospitals that accept Medicare and the other plan doesn’t?

4. I’m super healthy and rarely need a doctor.
If you’re in original Medicare, all should be well: As a “pay-for-service” arrangement, not seeing the doctor isn’t costing you anything extra beyond your mandatory parts B and D monthly insurance premiums.

If you’re in an MA plan in which you’re paying a monthly premium on top of your standard Part B premium, that may be for a plan that offers lots of extras , such as gym memberships.

Consider switching to a lower-cost MA plan that doesn’t offer services you don’t plan to use in the coming year.

WHY? Why are there any premiums, and why does one plan not cover the “extras?

5. I’ve been diagnosed with a chronic condition.
A serious medical change should trigger a full review of your Medicare coverage. Make sure your Plan D policy pays for new prescriptions.

Consider the care you’ll need . If you want disease-specific programs, find an MA plan that offers them.

But if you will need lots of specialists, there’s an argument for OM. Making critical changes early can “really affect your pocketbook and save you money,” says Gretchen Jacobson, a vice president with the Commonwealth Fund.

WHY? Why the difference in plans? Why doesn’t one plan cover everything?

6. My income has dropped sharply.
If you are in original Medicare, your Part B monthly premium is locked in, but your Part D drug plan isn’t.

And there’s a chance you can find a lower-cost policy that covers the medicines you are on.

If you’re in an Advantage plan, consider a switch to a plan in which there is no extra payment on top of the mandatory Part B premium.

And you might qualify for help. Ask your state Medicaid office about Medicare Savings Programs. Find the state offices here or call 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227).

WHY? Why is there a monthly premium? Why does one plan not even lock in premiums? Why the difference in costs?

7. My former employer is changing its retiree health benefits.
Some companies provide retirees with Medigap supplemental insurance, which covers many health costs not covered by OM.

If you have changes to your retiree benefit coverage, or for some reason that coverage no longer is offered, contact Medicare’s Benefits Coordination & Recovery Center (855-798-2627).

Someone can tell you whether you fall in the window in which Medigap insurers cannot deny you coverage based on preexisting conditions.

WHY? Why are some retirees not covered by Medigap supplemental? Why is there even a need for supplemental?

8. My regular doctor is no longer in network for my plan.
If you deeply want to stay with a doctor, ask directly whether he or she is moving to a different MA plan, accepting OM patients or dropping out of Medicare completely.

If you decide to make a change, make sure a short-term decision won’t affect your long-term coverage (for example, switching to original Medicare to temporarily stay with one doctor but sacrificing Medigap coveragefor the long term).

It might be safer to ask your doctor to recommend a colleague in your current plan.

I’m in need of serious dental care. Original Medicare doesn’t cover routine dental care costs, but many Medicare Advantage plans do.

If you don’t have your own dental insurance and can’t afford dentistry costs out of pocket, consider finding an MA plan that will cover a portion of the costs of your needed work.

Antos warns that figuring out what portion of your dental bills an MA plan will cover is complicated, so it helps to know what services you will use in the coming year.

WHY? Why does a person need to consult a crystal ball to guess what medical coverage will be needed at some unknown time in the future?

WHY?

HERE IS WHY: Our Monetarily Sovereign government has infinite funds. It can afford any expense, even without collecting a single dollar in taxes. It has ultimate control over the value of the dollar, i.e. inflation.

Thus, the federal government has the unlimited ability to fund comprehensive, no-deductible Medicare for every man, woman, and child in America. There is no financial reason why you, your family and everyone you know does not have free, total healthcare protection.

But . . .

At the behest of the very rich, who run America, our information leaders promulgate the Big Lie that taxpayers fund federal spending, and that the federal government is in danger of running short of dollars if spending increases without tax increases.

You have been sold the bill of goods that “there is no such thing as a free lunch,” and that federal spending causes inflation, and that the phony Medicare “trust fund” is running short of money.

The rich do this to widen the Gap between the rich and the rest, for it is the Gap that makes them rich. The wider the Gap, the richer they are.

Better “Medicare for All” plans have been proposed, but they have been rejected supposedly because tax dollars are needed to pay for it.

They aren’t. It’s the Big Lie, the sole purpose of which is to make the rich richer.

There is no other purpose.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell Monetary Sovereignty Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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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.”

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

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

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