Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap.
==================================================================================================================================================================

Before retirement, I specialized in small business turnarounds. I entered troubled small businesses, and brought them back to life.

The first step: Analyze their problems – and really the word should be “problem” (singular), because inevitably they all had the same problem: Lack of focus.

Usually, they had a core business, and they had side businesses. They seemed to feel they could “do that at the same time they did this,” and get extra income.

Unfortunately, the side businesses took time, attention and money away from the core business. They diluted the core business functionality and identity in the eyes of existing and potential customers.

The first goal: Focus on a core business narrow enough that you could be the biggest among any competitors in that core business.

Example: An educational software company had created one excellent program – a business simulation program – that they sold to college students, who used it to experience running a simulated business.

Additionally, the company created ad hoc specialty programs for anyone who wanted one. The ad hoc programs usually were “one offs” – programs that were sold once. The business simulation was sold year after year to college students – an ongoing income stream.

I focused them on one goal: Making their business simulation for colleges the most popular in the world. We eliminated the ad hoc simulations. The result of that focus: The business simulation, in fact, became the world’s most popular for college students.

The income lost by eliminating ad hoc simulations was made up a hundred fold by the increase in core business sales. The reason: There are many important marketing advantages to being the #1 in any business.

Another example: A company used telemarketing to sell used lawbooks to attorneys, and also had a retail store that sold office nicknacks to attorneys (scales of justice, pen sets, etc).

We closed the store and focused all our efforts on selling used lawbooks. We became the world’s largest, and importantly, became well known among lawyers. Any lawyer who wanted books thought of us.

This is what these companies learned: You will succeed by focusing on the goal of being #1. There is a great temptation to reach in many directions, but by doing so, you will fail in all.

One benefit of focus is that you get every employee on the same page. All can visualize where you want to go. Their suggestions will tend to be on point. Their decisions will be appropriate. They will understand the question: “Will this help get us to where we want to go?”

That brings us to the title question: What is America’s goal? Where do we want to go? What is our focus?

Do we wish to:

–Increase national economic growth?
–Prevent global warming?
–Save our ecology?
–Improve fairness in the legal system?
–Increase the physical and psychological well-being of all Americans?
–Reduce abortions?
–Improve mass transportation?
–Reduce air and water pollution?
–Increase the prosperity of all Americans?
–Narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest?
–Reduce illegal drug use?
–Reduce bigotry?
–Reduce poverty?
–Reduce crime?
–Reduce unemployment?
–Foster democracy?
–Increase domestic freedom?
–Make voting fairer?
–Increase privacy?
–Reduce illegal immigration?
–Improve our education?
–Increase exports?
–Bring democracy to other nations?
–Foster domestic freedom?
–Win the Olympics?
–Bring freedom to other nations?
–Make us safer from foreign powers?
–All of the above?

There probably are many other goals you can imagine, and that is the point. Ask any ten people, “What is America’s goal,” and you may receive ten different answers.

What is your answer?

When I first asked small business owners what they felt were their most important goals, they had many different answers. But, there only was one correct answer: “Identify and focus on a core business that I can make the #1 in my world.

It was another way of asking, “How can I be the best?” It forces one to ask, “The best at what?” And that is the beginning of focus.

If we ask, “How can America be the best?” the next question is, “The best at what?”

Those are the two questions every Presidential candidate, every CEO, every leader should ask and answer: “How can we be the best? The best at what?” It’s what’s known as leadership.

Yet few Presidents or candidates do it.

Our national leaders seldom seem to articulate a national goal. Rather, each Presidential speech, and each economist’s paper, offers a partial solution to the problem du jour.

Too many unemployed? Try some form of “jobs guarantee.” (Which form? We have no idea.)
Taxes too high? Add a few more deductions. (Which deductions? We have no idea.)
Poverty? Food stamps. (Or public housing. Or Medicaid. Or school vouchers. Which? All? We have no idea.)

Now in truth, the federal government is not the same as a small business. Far from it. For a “company” as big as the U.S. government, focusing on one core goal might not be appropriate. Still, the nation needs focus.

Offering a focus allows the citizens to understand what our nation and our leaders wish to accomplish, and to evaluate ideas based on accomplishing that goal.

So, I suggest this “tri-focus”:

1. Shrink the Gap between the rich and the rest
2. Grow the real (inflation adjusted) per-capita economy
3. Maintain national security

And that’s it. Shrink, grow and maintain. Focus on those three goals and everything good will follow.

That focus also allows us not only to evaluate ideas and plans, but also allows us to evaluate our progress.

Has the Gap between the rich and the rest narrowed? Has the real per-capita economy grown? Have we maintained national security?

(Based on our progress toward those specific goals, how successful has the current Presidency and Congress been?)

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

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

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

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

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

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap.
==================================================================================================================================================================

Many factors account for election victories — organization, charisma, gerrymandering, scandal, money, media support — even on rare occasion, actual issues.

But there is one factor that seems to explain the Republican Congressional victories of late.

Before we reveal it, let’s look at some seeming logic.

As a generality, Republicans wish to:
–Reduce Social Security benefits
–Eliminate federal support for health care insurance
–Eliminate or reduce social programs for the poor
–Cut taxes on the rich while broadening the tax base
–Reduce the power of the Environmental Protection Agency
–Increase the ability of the rich to buy politicians and elections
–Eliminate same-sex marriage
–Eliminate all abortions, regardless of circumstance
–Give private corporations the right to impose religious beliefs on employees
–Give everyone the legal right to carry a hidden weapon, and to buy or sell weapons without a background check
–Make immigration more difficult, and deport undocumented immigrants

Polls seem to indicate various majorities of Americans disagree with those positions.

Additionally:

Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago.

Meanwhile, Republican identification fell to 25%, the lowest over that time span. At 31%, Democratic identification is unchanged from the last four years but down from 36% in 2008.

Americans’ increasing shift to independent status has come more at the expense of the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. Republican identification peaked at 34% in 2004, the year George W. Bush won a second term in office.

Since then, it has fallen nine percentage points, with most of that decline coming during Bush’s troubled second term. When he left office, Republican identification was down to 28%. It has declined or stagnated since then, improving only slightly to 29% in 2010, the year Republicans “shellacked” Democrats in the midterm elections.

Given only these factors, one might suppose that Democrats have won most recent elections. But that hasn’t been the case. Why?

The financially stressed favor Democrats, don’t vote much, study finds

About half of American adults have no retirement account beyond Social Security, 4 in 10 don’t have a credit card, and 1 in 5 lack a checking account.

Statistics like that paint a picture of the widespread nature of financial insecurity in the U.S. Americans who are most financially secure were, by a large margin, the most likely to have voted this last fall, the study found. They were also the most likely to favor Republicans.

Americans whose finances are precarious tended to reject the GOP, but were also much more likely to have dropped out of the political process, either not registering to vote or not planning to cast a ballot.

Among the most well-off, about half favored the GOP. That support dropped to fewer than 1 in 5 among the least well-off, the study found.

And, don’t think it’s just a matter of race:

Support for the two parties was very similar whether they looked at the overall electorate or just at white Americans. Democrats got less support among whites than among the electorate as a whole, but the level of backing was fairly consistent at all levels of financial security.

Support for Republicans dropped sharply among whites in the least financially stable groups.

Those who are better off are more conservative on issues involving government spending and help for the poor. The wealthy are much more likely than the poor to believe that government benefits are overly generous. The poor are also more skeptical of business than are the well off.

On only one issue in the survey, immigration, were less economically secure Americans more likely than the well off to take a conservative stand.

Well-off Americans said, by more than 2-1, that they agreed with a statement that immigrants “strengthen our country” rather than one that said that immigrants are a “burden … because they take our jobs.”

Among the least financially secure, that pro-immigration position still commanded a majority, but the division was much tighter, 51%-44%.

Why do the less-financially-secure not vote their own self interest? Their best hope for a more compassionate government, is to elect Democrats. Yet they don’t take that simple, no-cost step.

I suspect that not having money induces feelings of weakness and hopelessness, while having money gives one a sense of power and control.

Perhaps the poor and middle-income-groups have become so accustomed to being treated unfairly (compared with the rich), that they no longer even see the unfairness. Perhaps, they merely accept that “It’s just the way life is?” “Why bother to fight it?”

I also suspect that only a charismatic, populist leader — for instance a Roosevelt or a Kennedy — can arouse the people from their torpor, and get them to the polls.

President Obama could have been the one, but he proved either to be weak or fiscally in league with the right wing.

Until a true liberal emerges — a liberal who understands Monetary Sovereignty — the 99% will continue to lose what they currently have and see their futures diminished.

The sole question: Will the people even bother to vote for that liberal?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

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

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

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

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

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap.
==================================================================================================================================================================

Please remind me again: Why do they want the Keystone oil pipeline?

Keystone pipeline bill advances in US Senate

The US Congress on Monday edged closer to approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The legislation easily passed the House last week. It cleared its first major hurdle in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Monday’s vote officially kicked off debate on the long-delayed project, which if constructed by builder TransCanada would transport crude from Alberta’s oil sands south to refineries on the US Gulf Coast.

Republicans, who see Keystone as a top economic priority, argue that the project would create 42,000 construction jobs.

But Democratic opponents like Senator Barbara Boxer insist those are merely temporary jobs, and that just 35 permanent jobs would be created for the 1,179-mile pipeline, according to the State Department.

Republicans say moving oil by pipeline releases far fewer emissions than transporting it by rail or road.

Apparently, hiring 42,000 (!) people to build a pipeline (that would be maintained by 35 people) indicates we have a shortage of oil. So we have to make importing oil from Canada, easier.

Shale Seen by U.A.E. Hurt More Than OPEC in Oil’s Fall

OPEC nations can withstand a drop in crude prices to the lowest in more than five years, while shale drillers will probably be the first to curb production amid the collapse, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is battling a U.S. shale boom by resisting production cuts and signaling its readiness to let prices fall to a level that slows American output.

The U.A.E., OPEC’s fifth-largest member, pumped 2.7 million barrels a day last month and has a capacity of 3 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Persian Gulf nation will stick with its plan to boost capacity to 3.5 million barrels a day in 2017, in spite of the global glut.

Suhail Al Mazrouei, the U.A.E. minister, told reporters today in Abu Dhabi. “If the price is right for them to produce, then fine, let them produce. If the price is not right, then they will reduce.“

So let’s get this straight. U.S, oil independence relies on shale oil, which is more expensive to produce than well oil. OPEC is ramping up well oil production in order to force U.S. shale oil producers to cut back.

OPEC’s squeeze on U.S. oil independence could succeed

From the Saudi perspective, the primary benefit of high oil prices has accrued to non-OPEC members. A cut in Saudi or OPEC production to support prices would only further benefit these oil producers.

Low oil prices can be seen through a Saudi prism as reprisals against the U.S.

It is designed to undermine American attempts at greater energy self-sufficiency through aggressive exploitation of its shale gas and liquid resources.

It is revenge for America’s strategic rebalancing away from the region to a greater Asian focus.

In the short run, producers may continue to produce and sell at below breakeven prices. If oil prices stay low for a sustained period, then producers will cut production, with marginal- or higher-cost firms forced to close or declare bankruptcy.

In summary, the Keystone pipeline is unnecessary, with oil prices already low (and falling) and oil stocks already high (and rising).

It is environmentally harmful and will reduce U.S. oil independence, exactly what our enemies in OPEC want. It will create just 35 jobs, and help put some U.S. oil drillers into bankruptcy. Increasing the supply of oil constitutes revenge against America.

The Republicans, (especially), want anything the rich pay them to want, and despite compulsive flag waving, are not concerned about U.S. oil independence, and are no strangers to revenge against America (remember those government shutdowns).

(As of Novemeber, 2014) a 56 percent majority of Americans support building the pipeline to transport oil from Canada through the United States to oil refineries in Texas. Eighty-three percent of Republicans, 53 percent of independents and 40 percent of Democrats are in favor of it.

Proponents of the project feel more strongly than opponents: 31 percent support the pipeline strongly, while just 12 percent strongly oppose it.

This, the re-election of Bush/Cheney, and the recent Republican victories in Congress, tell you all you need to know about the American voting public.

But, please remind me again: Why do they want the Keystone oil pipeline?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

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

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

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

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

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap.
==================================================================================================================================================================

Yesterday, we published, “Obama’s tiny trial balloon regarding education. Let the struggle begin.” Friday, Jan 9 2015

It described President Obama’s preliminary recommendation that the federal government pay for part of community college costs. As a fundamental (i.e. government should pay for education), the recommendation not only is sound, though long overdue.

The states and cities, which being monetarily non-sovereign, have limited financial resources, but they pay for 12 grades of education. Why? Because education is the one thing that can keep America’s world leadership.

Unfortunately, because the states and cities are cash strapped, the quality of education in America has declined, thus threatening the very foundations of our nation.

Here’s The New Ranking Of Top Countries In Reading, Science, And Math
JOE WEISENTHAL, DEC. 3, 2013,

The OECD is out with new global rankings of how students in various countries do in reading, science, and math. Results of the full survey can be found and delved into here.

You can see below how Asian countries are obliterating everyone else in these categories. The United States, meanwhile, ranks below the OECD average in every category. And as the WSJ notes, the US has slipped in all of the major categories in recent years:

Is it that the citizens of these nations are naturally smarter than Americans? No, its that they receive better educations. We are cheating our children, our nation and ourselves, of the benefits of education.

For reasons that must relate to America’s “can-do,” self-sufficient, “John Wayne” history, we tend to expect individuals to take care of themselves.

So, for instance, unlike the majority of first-world nations, we look down on universal health care as some sort of weakness — as though anything given free will be abused by lazy, free-loaders.

We demean “food stamp mamas” as low-life cheaters, who should “get a job” and not expect the government to feed them.

And we say, if you can’t afford college, get a job and work your way through; don’t expect a handout from the government.

That is the American attitude — a self destructive attitude that has diminished our national health care, national nutrition and national education. This American attitude has, in many ways, made us a 2nd world nation, if not 3rd world.

Were it not for our powerful army, our large population and good plumbing, we indeed would be a 3rd world nation.

Unfortunately, President Obama’s recommendation, as meager as it is, now has begun to face the nay saying of those who never have had an idea, and who despise those who do.

Obama: ‘No free lunch’ in free-tuition plan

Right away, even the President has to apologize for a government benefit. God forbid education should be free. There has to be some sort of mountain to climb, because as America has been taught, free is bad.

The president’s plan, which would require congressional approval, would call for the federal government to pay 75 percent of students’ community-college tuition and for states to pick up the rest of the tab. White House aides said the initiative, modeled on a fledgling program in Tennessee, would cost U.S. taxpayers about $60 billion over its first 10 years.

There is no good reason to force cash-poor states to pick up any of the tab. This requirement is guaranteed to make the states fight the program, and has no financial purpose. Question: Does Obama want the program to succeed or to fail?

Also, that Big Lie about costing U.S. taxpayers about “$60 billion” is wrong, wrong, wrong. It would not cost federal taxpayers one cent. Federal taxes do not pay for federal spending.

“No one should be denied a college education just because they don’t have the money,” the president said. “Two years of college will become as free and universal as high school is today.”

Absolutely correct. By why just two years? Why not four years? Why not post-grad? There are no good reasons other than the wrong-headed Big Lie that the federal government “can’t afford it.” That, together with the belief that no one should be given anything, are why the U.S. is sinking among nations.

But perhaps the most important reason: The rich do not want the rest of us to be educated, because education helps narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest. And that is why you will see the Republicans fight this with all their strength.

The president said his proposal is “not a free lunch” because students would need to keep their grades up to qualify.

“There are no free rides in America,” Mr. Obama said. “Students would have to do their part by keeping their grades up. This isn’t a blank check.”

There’s that evil word “free.” No free lunch. No free ride. No blank check. “Do their part.” What is this strange obsession Americans have with self-sufficiency?

Democratic lawmakers reacted favorably to the proposal. But Republicans in Congress questioned how the administration intended to pay for it.

Answer: By simply creating the dollars to pay for it. That is the fundamental purpose for a nation to be Monetarily Sovereign.

Rep. Diane Black, Tennessee Republican, noted that the state’s program is paid for by a lottery reserve fund that she said doesn’t result in added cost to taxpayers.

Uh, excuse me Rep Black, but who are those people buying stupid lottery tickets? Aren’t they taxpayers? And aren’t the vast majority in the lower 99% income groups?

“By contrast, the president’s proposal appears to be a top-down federal program that will ask already cash-strapped states to help pick up the tab,” she said. “Will the president offer proposals to make his plan budget-neutral, or will he attempt to charge it to the credit card?”

Get it? Republican Rep. Black doesn’t want the “cash-strapped states” paying for it (which is a legitimate concern), but she also doesn’t want the federal government to “charge it to the credit card.” In short, she doesn’t want anyone to pay for it.

Cory Fritz, a spokesman for Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said the plan lacks details. “The speaker is for making college opportunities more available but the White House needs to fill in the blanks, starting with the cost to taxpayers,” Mr. Fritz said.

Oh yes, the Speaker surely wants to make college opportunities more available, so long as there is no cost to the federal government. How that works, no one knows. It’s just more of the “cost to taxpayers” Big Lie. Maybe if we shout it would help: FEDERAL TAXPAYERS DO NOT PAY FOR FEDERAL SPENDING.

The federal government should pay for public college and beyond, just as the states and cities pay for public grades K-12. (In fact, the federal government, having unlimited funds, should pay for K-12 too.)

But many things stand in the way of American progress:
-The silly, “no free lunch” attitude.
-The equally silly, “John Wayne self sufficiency” attitude.
-The false hubris that “we already are the best.”
-The desire by the rich to keep the rest down, so as to widen the Gap between the rich and the rest.
-The Big Lie that says the federal government “can’t afford” to spend more on education (and that his will cause hyperinflation).
-The desire of the idea-devoid Republicans to smash down anything Obama.

And that little trial balloon floats among the pins, threatened by pricks.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

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

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

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

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

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

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY