Tag: monetarily non-sovereign

–Someone please tell me what this means

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

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes..

•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.

•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Someone, please tell me what this means.

An article by Reason.com quoted this exchange:

Q: […] Dr. Carson, you were against putting troops on the ground in Iraq and against a large military force in Afghanistan.

Do you support the president’s decision to now put 50 special ops forces in Syria and leave 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan?

CARSON: Well, putting the special ops people in there is better than not having them there, because they that’s why they’re called special ops, they’re actually able to guide some of the other things that we’re doing there.

And what we have to recognize is that Putin is trying to really spread his influence throughout the Middle East. This is going to be his base. And we have to oppose him there in an effective way.

We also must recognize that it’s a very complex place. You know, the Chinese are there, as well as the Russians, and you have all kinds of factions there. What we’ve been doing so far is very ineffective, but we can’t give up ground right there.

But we have to look at this on a much more global scale. We’re talking about global jihadists. And their desire is to destroy us and to destroy our way of life.

So we have to be saying, how do we make them look like losers? Because that’s the way that they’re able to gather a lot of influence. And I think in order to make them look like losers, we have to destroy their caliphate.

And you look for the easiest place to do that? It would be in Iraq.

And if ­­outside of Anbar in Iraq there’s a big energy field, take that from them. Take all of that land from them. We could do that, I believe, fairly easily, I’ve learned from talking to several generals, and then you move on from there.

But you have to continue to face them, because our goal is not to contain them, but to destroy them before they destroy us.

What exactly is Ben Carson saying?

Is he saying that putting 50 special ops into Syria is the way to oppose Putin “in an effective way”?

Is he saying the Chinese have troops in Syria? (Hint: They don’t.)

Exactly what “ground” is it that “we can’t give up”?

Is he talking about invading Iraq again, to obtain oil fields? To destroy ISIS?

And would it be done “fairly easily”? (Do you think he really asked “several generals” about this?)

He doesn’t want “to contain them, but to destroy them.” But if he destroys them and doesn’t contain them, what does this “look like losers” mean?

First he tells lies about his personal history. Then this very religious man confuses Islam with the bible. Now he offers a grade-school, non-answer to a very important question about international politics and warfare.

And I mention this because Carson is the leading Republican candidate. This is the man who more Republicans think is qualified to be President of the United States than any other person.

Ultimately, a nation gets the leader it deserves.

Does America really deserve Dr. Ben Carson as President?

But then again, which candidate does America deserve?

And what is Ben Carson talking about?

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 Click here
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
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions. Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero and when deficit growth declines.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recessions, each of which has been cured only when the growth lines rose.

Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–Republicans agree on the need to end FICA

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

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes..

•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.

•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

This post is a followup to the previous post: The KISS approach to narrowing the Gap and growing the American economy.

Headline: Republicans agree on the need to end FICA

Trump, Carson, Rubio: Don’t raise the minimum wage
By: Liz Goodwin, Senior National Affairs Reporter, November 10, 2015

GOP frontrunners Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio agree on at least one thing: The minimum wage should not be raised.

“Wages are too high,” Trump said, while explaining why he did not support hiking the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour.

“We are a country that is being beaten on every front: economically, militarily. There is nothing that we do now to win. We don’t win anymore,” Trump said.

The real estate mogul added that the country should dramatically lower its taxes but keep wages as they are to be more competitive economically with the rest of the world.

The crowd applauded. Ben Carson quickly agreed when the question was tossed to him.

See, the leading Republicans agree that taxes should be reduced and that wages also need to be reduced to make America more competitive — and eliminating FICA would accomplish all those goals.

Yes, we know that when Republicans say they want to reduce taxes, they mean reduce taxes on the rich.

And yes, we know that when Republicans want to reduce wages, they want to cut take-home wages.

And yes, we know that Republicans want to reduce wages so as to enrich corporations, which they phrase as “making America more competitive.”

But eliminating the wholly unnecessary FICA tax would accomplish everything Republicans claim they want:
1. Cutting FICA would reduce taxes
2. Cutting FICA would reduce paid wages (while increasing take-home pay).
3. Cutting FICA would enrich corporations and make America more competitive.

“Every time we raise the minimum wage, the number of jobless people increases. I would not raise it,” Carson said, to applause.

Sen. Marco Rubio joined his two rivals, saying tax reform would be more effective than raising wages.

“If I thought [raising the] minimum wage would be the best way to help increase their pay I would be all for for it, but it isn’t,” Rubio said of lower income people in the country.

“It’s disaster if you raise the minimum wage. You make people more expensive than machines.”

That is why Republicans would love the elimination of FICA.
1. It would not increase joblessness
2. It is tax reform.
3. It is the best way to help increase workers’ pay.

Cutting FICA does everything — everything — Republicans say they want, with only a small exception. It doesn’t widen the gap between the rich and the rest. It doesn’t punish the poor, and it isn’t mean-spirited.

But hey, you can’t have everything.

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 Click here
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
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions. Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero and when deficit growth declines.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recessions, each of which has been cured only when the growth lines rose.

Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–The KISS approach to narrowing the Gap and growing the American economy

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

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes..

•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.

•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

It is difficult to argue with faith. Facts won’t do it. Faith is supported by authority, intuition , desire and simplicity.

Facts cannot undo faith.

People want guidance from authority. People are programmed to believe their own intuition. People want simple answers to complex questions.

Faith, presented by authority, gives them simple, intuitive answers. Faith cannot be undone by complexity.

And that has been the problem. The populace has been programmed by authority — politicians, the rich, economists, the media — programmed to believe that federal financing is like state, local and personal financing.

The notion that something so valuable as money can be created from thin air, is not simple. It violates the “no free lunch” mantra. The denial is reinforced by people in authority.

So you are told the Big Lie, that “the federal government is just like you and your state and local governments.” Simple.

And you are told, “printing money causes inflation. Remember Zimbabwe.” Simple.

And you are told, “if the government could create dollars out of thin air, it wouldn’t collect taxes.” Simple.

All lies. But oh, so simple.

Here is faith: God rules everything. Yet, if you act badly, God will punish you. The fact that those two ideas are in opposition bothers no one. Faith wins; facts lose.

Here is faith: The federal government can print money. Yet, the government needs tax dollars. The fact that those two ideas are in opposition bothers no one. Faith wins; reason and facts lose.

Faith wants no reason or facts. Simplicity and authority are enough.

Readers of this blog are familiar with the “Ten Steps to Prosperity” shown at the end of each post.

‘Ten Steps’? That’s not simple. It’s not intuitive. It’s not what the politicians and media and economists tell you. It’s not what the rich tell you.

The people believe what they always have believed. They believe printing money causes inflation. They believe the federal government needs taxes to pay for spending. And they believe if you give people money, they will become needier and refuse to work, because only the rich have ambition.

If we want to overcome intuition and faith, perhaps Ten Steps are too many. Perhaps we need to follow the “KISS” principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid.”

The first step in the Ten Steps is: “Eliminate FICA.”

It is first because it is the most powerful step.

Every year, the federal government collects more than a trillion FICA dollars from employees and employers. That’s about 1/3 of all the dollars the federal government takes in taxes.

monetary sovereignty
Source: Office of Management and Budget

A trillion dollars taken from business and the middle classes! A trillion dollars taken from the economy! Every year!

So here is a simple path to economic growth and to narrowing the Gap between the rich and the rest: STOP COLLECTING FICA TAXES.

Just stop.

What could be simpler?

The government would continue paying Social Security and Medicare benefits as it always has. No change. But simply stop collecting FICA dollars.

Stop taking a trillion dollars a year out of the economy.

Stop impoverishing the middle classes by picking dollars out of their pockets. Stop increasing American business employment costs. Stop making American business less competitive vs. foreign employers.

Just stop.

Stop pretending that Social Security and Medicare will run short of dollars. Stop pretending that Social Security lends dollars to other agencies in the government, which then supposedly pays the dollars back so Social Security can pay its bills. It’s a complex, Byzantine, Rube Goldbergian shell game.

Just stop.

The American people would be more self-sufficient. They would have more money to spend on goods and services, on housing and health and education.

U.S. business payroll costs would go down, the better to compete with foreign, low-wage businesses.

The entire nation would prosper.

And all that would be needed is for the federal government to stop collecting FICA.

It’s that simple.

Perhaps the Ten Steps are too difficult for the populace to absorb. Perhaps we should focus on just one simple step.

STOP COLLECTING FICA.

KISS.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Grow America; End FICA

===================================================================================
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 Click here
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
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions. Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero and when deficit growth declines.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recessions, each of which has been cured only when the growth lines rose.

Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–The qualifications for being the Presidential window and mirror

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

Mitchell’s laws:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes..

•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.

•The single most important problem in economics is the Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
•Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest..
============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

The President is both a window and a mirror.

Lately, I’ve been quite critical of the Republican Presidential candidates. I see an aggregation of men (and woman), whose primary qualification seems to be hatred: Hatred of the poor and middle classes, hatred of the gay, hatred of the immigrant, the non-Christian, the uneducated, the non-English speaking and ironically, hatred of the government.

Hatred is not an acceptable basis for governmental leadership, as hatred of others begets hatred of self. Such a divided nation cannot survive.

There are, to my thinking, three primary qualifications for being President.

1. Political experience and talent with which to drag an often reluctant Congress forward.
2. Experience with, and an understanding of, domestic and world economics.
3. The communication skills to educate the public and to gain public support.

1. Political experience and talent: If you wished to hire someone to do a difficult job, you would look for experience and talent. You wouldn’t hire someone having no experience to be a dentist, a dietician or a database administrator.

But among the Republican leaders are Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, each of whom has zero political experience.

Two have business experience, but business is not at all like the U.S. government.

The CEO of a business is a dictator, who issues commands and expects obedience. By contrast, we are a democracy. Our President (who has perhaps the world’s hardest job) must negotiate, cajole and promise, in order to move Congress and the public.

In my lifetime, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson probably were the most effective Presidents, because they knew how to work Congress. Their political experience and talent resulted in the passage of major forward advances of America.

Opting for a President with scant political experience is like opting for a doctor who never went to school.

2. Experience with, and an understanding of, domestic and world economics: Ultimately, the President is credited with a nation’s economic growth and faulted when growth lags.

He must understand what is needed to increase employment, reduce unemployment, narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest, feed the hungry, house the homeless, educate the uneducated and strengthen the nation’s economic and military competitiveness.

In today’s modern, technological world, we need a President who has, if not an understanding of, at least an appreciation for research, development and science.

Our President must support scientific achievements like atomic energy and other energy sources, spaceflight, medical advances and quantum mechanics and computing.

Scientific research and development ask our government to absorb the financial risks and long-term goals that are beyond the abilities and short-term views of financially constrained private organizations.

Yet, the vast majority of Republicans have voted to: Cut federal deficit spending, cut social benefits, starve the poor, impoverish the middle, deport immigrants and force America to default on its debts, all of which weaken America’s economy.

The likes of Carson, Santorum, Huckabee and the religious right deny science, and specifically economics, in favor of pious superstition. They offer Dark Ages thinking that will return us to 3rd world tribalism.

3. Communication skills: The President must communicate not only facts, not only ideas, but attitudes. As the leader, he helps us know who we are and who we wish to be.

Are Americans a people of love and tolerance or of hatred? Are we a people of courage or of fear? A people of joy or of melancholy? Of strength or weakness? A generous or a selfish people? A people of darkness or of light?

Who are we and who do we wish to be?

Our leader will help determine our national personality.

The Republican candidates received a few minutes of “hard” questions in the most recent debate. They haven’t stopped whining. Hillary Clinton endured 11 hours of hostile questioning, and she never flinched, cried or complained.

In the Republican candidates, I see weakness. I see intolerance and hatred. I see cowardice and the fear of an intolerant base. I see dark misery and selfishness. I see all the basest forms of the human psyche. With such leadership, I see an America that radiates no joy to the world nor back to itself.

Democrats Roosevelt and Kennedy and Republican Reagan gave us feelings of hope and optimism. But Democrat Carter gave us a dour “crisis of confidence.” And today’s Republicans give us anger.

The President is a window, who lets the world see us, and a mirror who helps us see ourselves.

Who are we and who shall we be?

In a year, we will choose.

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 Click here
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
Monetary Sovereignty

Vertical gray bars mark recessions. Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero and when deficit growth declines.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recessions, each of which has been cured only when the growth lines rose.

Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY