Tag: monetarily non-sovereign

–The single worst thing a politician can suggest.

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

Think of the single worst thing a politician can suggest. What would it be?

Would it involve immigration? Abortion? Guns? Taxes? Spending? Education? Gay marriage?

What would you rank to be the ultimate wrong-headed, political foolishness?

How about something that has the potential to destroy all life as we know it? Might that make it into your “top ten”?

The latest consensus among astronomers is that a giant, moon-sized object is racing toward the earth. It’s orbit will intersect earth’s orbit in about 20 years.

At that time, it will pass close enough to raise tides, change winds, and cause other damaging effects.

Then, it will return in about 50 years, coming even closer, causing massive climate disruptions and huge ocean tides, swamping most coastal cities,

Finally in about 100 years, it again will return, this time hitting the earth, obliterating much of the life on this planet.

The proposed solution is for all nations immediately to produce thousands of rockets and send them to crash on the object, with each rocket producing a tiny orbital nudge, and together moving the object enough to reduce its effect on earth.

Some politicians say we should wait for other nations to begin, because our efforts alone won’t cure the problem.

Some don’t believe the astronomers, and say we should do nothing, because if God wants us to die, there is nothing we can do and anyway, the effort will reduce corporate profits and increase unemployment.

Some say we should begin immediately and do the best we can so as not to risk the future of humankind and all living things.

What is your opinion: Wait for other nations, do nothing or begin immediately?

Well, to my knowledge, that giant object has not been predicted, but the scientists do predict another form of world-wide catastrophe: Climate change.

Here is where the politicians stand on this potentially world-ending event:

This Chart Shows Where All the U.S. Presidential Candidates Stand on the World’s Biggest Issue
BY JAMES WEST, Newsweek, 10/30/15

monetary sovereignty

The First, the “Do-Nothing Denier” crowd—Donald Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, all Republicans—reject or aggressively downplay the science of man-made climate change, and they don’t want to do anything about it.

They’ve called global warming a “hoax” (Trump) or “junk science” and “patently absurd” (Santorum), and have pushed dumb pseudoscience, such as Huckabee’s insistence that “a volcano in one blast will contribute more than 100 years of human activity.“

Next comes Dr. Ben Carson, who not only denies the science of climatology, but also denies the science of evolution. One wonders what science courses he took in order to become a doctor — surely not biology.

(Carson said), “There is no overwhelming science that the things that are going on are man-caused and not naturally caused.” (That comment inspired California Gov. Jerry Brown to send Carson a thumb drive full of climate research.)

But Carson (also said), “I don’t care whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative, if you have any thread of decency in you, you want to take care of the environment because you know you have to pass it onto the next generation.”

Apparently, in Carson’s view, global warming is not part of the environment we pass on to the next generation.

Then we come to repeated business fibber, Carly Fiorina:

“A single nation acting alone can make no difference at all,” she told CNBC, and therefore the United States needs to stop “destroying peoples’ livelihoods on the altar of ideology.“

Under her “leadership,” we would wait to follow other nations. Far be it from her to submit to any sort of ideology, especially when today’s business profits, rather than the future of humanity, is her overriding concern.

Let’s move on to the “Humans Aren’t to Blame” crowd—those candidates, all Republicans, who admit that the climate is changing but question just how much it can be attributed to humans burning fossil fuels.

Take Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it.“

Rubio, who justifies his $175,000 salary by almost never showing up for work, is not considered a reliable climate scientist.

Ted Cruz voted in the Senate to call climate change real, but he has also called it a “pseudoscientific theory,” (and said) “Satellite data demonstrate for the last 17 years there’s been zero warming, none whatsoever”—a statement that one climate expert criticized as “a load of claptrap…absolute bunk.”

Then we have the climate-change agnostics who know, but don’t know, but aren’t really sure:

Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky acknowledges that the world is warming because of carbon, but he has also said he is “not sure anybody exactly knows why” climate change is happening.

Jim Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia, who has called for acting on climate change, (but) “We do not know for sure how much is caused by man and how much is part of a natural cycle change. I do believe we must work toward reducing emissions.” More recently, however, Gilmore has called the goal of reducing carbon emissions “ephemeral” if China and India don’t act, too.

Gilmore is of the opinion that although the world might be ending, we aren’t going to do anything about it unless China and India do it first.

Then there are the “walk-both-sides-of-the fence” group, who demonstrate their strong leadership by trying to appease everyone, and by taking all possible positions.

Jeb Bush says humans contribute to the globe’s warming, but, “I think we have a responsibility to adapt to what the possibilities are without destroying our economy, without hollowing out our industrial core.” He previously claimed it was arrogant to assume the science was settled. And Bush’s energy policy proposes more drilling and less regulation.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie likes to brag about his state’s position as the country’s third-largest solar energy producer. But in 2011, Christie withdrew New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program in the Northeast. A

Ohio governor John Kasich has historically voiced his support for climate science. But then, he said, “We don’t want to destroy people’s jobs, based on some theory that is not proven.”

It is difficult to determine what the above band of sycophants to the rich would consider “proof.” As is common among climate change deniers, no amount of evidence constitutes proof, if their wealthy backers don’t like it.

We come now to big talkers, who have not submitted a plan, probably because even mentioning a plan might alienate their rich and the religious right backers:

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov.George Pataki, who have both urged action on climate change. Graham told CNN, “If I’m president of the United States, we’re going to address climate change, CO2 emissions in a business-friendly way.”

He added, “When 90 percent of the doctors tell you you’ve got a problem, do you listen to the one?”

Graham backed this up during the debate Wednesday by saying, “I have been to the Antarctic. I’ve talked to the climatologists of the world, and 90 percent of them are telling me the greenhouse gas effect is real, that we’re heating up the planet.”

Pataki was named co-chair of the Independent Task Force on Climate Change and has become an advocate for climate action.

He told the debate audience Wednesday that “one of the things that troubles me about the Republican Party is too often we question science that everyone accepts.“

But Graham and Pataki are positioned lower on the matrix than the Democrats because neither of them has rolled out a clear and convincing plan explaining how they’d address climate change as president.

There are very few politicians who believe the science and are not afraid to advance a plan to save our children’s futures:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says he would repeal Obama’s climate regulations, but he has laid out smaller-scale projects such as forest management and the energy efficiency for airlines.

For the record, he has called for action to combat warming temperatures—but he questioned “how much” humans actually contribute to warming.

Still, he earns a place in the top-right section of the graph because of a detailed energy policy that includes wind and solar.

Which brings us to the three Democrats:

Experts have weighed in on the strengths and weaknesses of each of their proposals, but for the purposes of this chart, they are all in essentially the same place.

(Hillary) Clinton has put installing a half billion solar panels by 2020 at the heart of her clean-energy policy and wants to best Obama’s own plans by generating 33 percent of America’s electricity from renewable sources by 2027.

(Bernie) Sanders has said that “we have a moral responsibility to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy and leave this planet a habitable planet for our children and our grandchildren.” He’s also described climate change as the country’s greatest national security threat.

(Martin) O’Malley wants to phase out fossil fuels entirely by 2050. “As president, on day one, I would use my executive power to declare the transition to a clean energy future the number one priority of our Federal Government.”

And there you have it: The doubters, the non-believers, those leaders who will “wait-for-other nations,” those leaders who will wait for God to decide, those leaders who will wait for the rich to decide and finally, those leaders who actually will lead, and not risk our children’s futures, but rather create solutions to a potentially world-ending problem.

Take your choice. Which leader will best save your children and grandchildren?

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 other reason why federal deficit spending is absolutely necessary for U.S. growth

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

Readers of this blog know that federal deficit spending adds dollars to the economy.
–And they know that economic growth relies on increased spending by the federal sector and by the non-federal sector (GDP = Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports)
–And they know that federal deficit spending adds to Non-federal Spending by putting more dollars into the pockets of individuals, corporations and local governments.
–And they know that reduced federal deficit spending leads to recessions (See the Recession Clock at the bottom of this page).

So for all those reasons, the myth that federal deficits, federal debt and the federal debt ceiling should be reduced are wrong-headed and damaging — perhaps the most damaging economic myth in all of economics.

But there is yet another reason why that myth should be consigned to the flat-earth, anti-vaccination, pro-gold dustbin of history, and that reason is: RISK.

What the Steve Jobs Movie Won’t Tell You About Apple’s Success
By Yves Smith, October 27th, 2015

Mariana Mazzucato’s recent book, The Entrepreneurial State, makes a bold and well-documented case that government has been the key factor in promoting innovation, largely because private interests lack the risk tolerance and long time horizon needed to create foundational technologies.

I often use the iPhone as an example of how governments shape markets, because what makes the iPhone ‘smart’ and not stupid is what you can do with it.

Everything you can do with an iPhone was government-funded. From the Internet that allows you to surf the Web, to GPS that lets you use Google Maps, to touch screen display and even the SIRI voice activated system —all of these things were funded by Uncle Sam through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA, the Navy, and even the CIA!

These agencies are all “mission-driven.”

By contrast, private industry is profit-driven, sales-driven, growth-driven, and the like.

Do you know how much it cost to send men to the moon, or to develop atomic energy or to create GPS? Do you even care?

Without NASA, no private company, would have risked starting from scratch to develop the rocketry, the astronaut training, the launch sites, the computerization and to pay all the thousands of personnel involved in an event that itself produced zero income (though it led to thousands of valuable inventions).

Our government, being Monetarily Sovereign, so is able to create dollars ad hoc, can afford any financial risk.

MM: We pretend that government at best was important for some infrastructure and basic science behind their empires.

We see the new Steve Jobs film, which is based on a 600-page book where not one word mentions any of the public funding behind Apple’s empire. But the real iPhone story — or the story behind biotechnology — reveals a very different narrative in which government-funded research made the most exciting innovations possible.

The same could be said of Elon Musk today —Tesla and Space X not only benefit from government-funded basic research through agencies like the DoE and NASA, but they have also, as companies, received high-risk investments by the public sector.

Just one example is the $465 million guaranteed loan received by Tesla by the DoE. As recently shown by an LA Times article, the entire Musk empire has received close to $5 billion in direct and indirect support.

Why did the DoE guarantee Tesla’s loan? Because they believed electric cars were destined to be energy savers, safer and less pollution creating.

The only question I have is: Why guarantee a loan? Why not simply give the money (with caveats about how the money and resultant profits are used)?

If energy saving, safety and reduced pollution are worthwhile goals for America, why make Tesla think twice about whether developmental costs are worth the risk to the whole corporation?

Sadly, after making the excellent point that the federal government can afford R&D risks that private industry cannot, and were it not for federal spending, much of what we take for granted in modern America would not exist, Ms. Mazzucato falls off the rails.

LP: You make the case that if taxpayers fund research responsible for the success of many private sector enterprises, then we deserve something back. What might a fairer system of the distribution of rewards look like?

MM: When government provided Tesla with that guaranteed loan, it was a success. On the other hand, Solyndra got roughly the same amount ($500 million to Tesla’s $465 million), but it was a failure.

Any venture capitalist will tell you that this is normal: for each success there are many failures. But what the venture capitalist has that the government does not have is the ability to use some of the upside to cover the downside and the next round of investments.

Economists argue that the government gets that upside through taxes paid by the companies benefitting from the investments; and by economic growth, which should generate higher tax receipts more broadly; and also through the spillovers from the investment into other areas, which helps the economy.

Yes, that is what many economists say, but they are dead wrong. The federal government does not benefit from taxes. It neither needs nor uses tax dollars. It creates dollars ad hoc, by spending.

Bottom line: One of the many reasons why federal deficit reduction is so harmful is: It reduces federal financing of the R&D that has brought us modern America. The federal government can afford what private investment cannot. The federal government can afford any financial risk.

If the smartphone and GPS had not been invented, we would feel no sense of loss. We would be perfectly satisfied with dial phones and paper maps. We would live in ignorance of what might have been.

And today, you have no idea what austerity has cost you — the inventions that never were invented, the mortal diseases that have not been cured, your loved ones’ lives that unnecessarily have been lost, the progress that didn’t happen.

We allude to this in the five posts titled, “You never will know what you have lost.”

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 will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY

–What do these Republican initiatives have in common?

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

What do these Republican initiatives have in common?

House votes – again – to repeal Obamacare
Deirdre Walsh Profile
By Deirdre Walsh, Senior Congressional Producer

The vote was 239-186, with no House Democrat supporting the measure and three House GOP freshmen opposing it.

This latest vote marked the 67th time the House has voted to entirely repeal, defund or change some provisions of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

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House Republicans begin impeachment against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen

It was the latest move in the battle over the targeting of tea party groups at the tax agency.

Less than a week earlier, the Justice Department issued a report finding no criminal behavior in the decision by top IRS officials to subject conservative groups to intrusive scrutiny.

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

House Benghazi Hearings: Too Much Too Late

As might be expected, the “Benghazi Committee” hearings have proven not much more than a means for each party to grandstand for political points.

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

Benghazi Committee Narrows In On This High-Ranking State Department Official

The House Select Committee on Benghazi is narrowing in on one high-ranking State Department official who has “magically” avoided punishment for failing to provide additional security in Benghazi before the Sept. 11, 2012, attack there, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy said in an interview.

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

Senator John Cornyn wants special counsel to investigate Clinton emails

The Senate’s No. 2 Republican wants Attorney General Loretta Lynch to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Clinton email controversy.

“The Attorney General has a special duty to pursue justice even when political considerations run counter to doing so.”

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

Republican leaders struggle to find votes to up debt limit

Congressional Republicans say they are short of the votes for raising the debt limit and avoiding a first-ever government default. With barely a week before the deadline, there’s no plan on what to do.

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

The big budget deal announced late last night is being decried as a “surrender” by conservatives who are unhappy that it boosts defense and non-defense spending, even as it insufficiently cuts Social Security and Medicare.

This is, as Philip Klein writes, a big loss for conservatives who actually want to substantially slash spending.

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

The Republican 2016 Field Takes a Hard Right on Immigration

It’s no longer just Donald Trump, whose rise in the polls came after he labeled Mexican immigrants “criminals” and “rapists.”

A host of GOP candidates called this week for an end to automatic citizenship for American-born children of immigrants in the United States illegally.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal each backed Trump’s call to end automatic citizenship. Jindal hoped no one would notice that he was born to parents in the United States on green cards.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged tougher enforcement against “anchor babies,” an epithet for children born to parents in the country illegally and often a reason families in the country illegally are not deported.

I don’t know what you see, but what I see is a party that seems devoid of ideas, and seems to spend all its time, money and effort in political vandalism and bigotry.

Like bad boys, the Republicans seem determined to break every window of opportunity and to slash every tire on the social progress bus, and to denigrate everyone who is not a ultra-white, ultra-right-wing Christian — but never to create anything worthwhile.

I visualize one party with a history of grand vision and creation: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, social programs to support the poor, the elderly and the middle classes.

And I visualize the other party devoted to tiny and destructive causes: Lawsuits and attempts to dismantle anything that benefits the poor, the elderly and the middle classes, hatred for gays and foreigners and anyone “different.”

In keeping with the trend, the Republicans now have fielded the craziest group of Presidential candidates since — well, since Sarah Palin.

Currently the leading Republican is Ben Carson — Ben Carson, the medical doctor who also denies evolution(!) That says much.

The Tea Party and the House Freedom Caucus are but the tip of the right-wing iceberg. What used to be considered the lunatic fringe, now has become the center of the right.

Public Policy Polling asked Republican voters if they believe Obama was born in the United States.

Only 29% said yes Obama was born in the USA. More shockingly 40% said yes Canadian-born Cruz was born in the USA.

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

40 percent of Republican voters in North Carolina believe the practice of Islam should be made illegal.

Only 40 percent of GOP voters believe Islam should definitely be legal, and the other 20 percent said they weren’t sure.

When asked if a Muslim should ever be allowed to be president, 72 percent of Republicans said no, and 12 percent were unsure. Only 16 percent of GOP voters said a Muslim should be able to hold the office.

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

America has succeeded in part, because of our two-party system, with each party producing ideas and plans to grow the nation. We cannot grow — we cannot even survive — if only one party wishes to build, while the other party wishes only to tear down.

We cannot grow — we cannot even survive — when small-minded bigots and mean-spirited fools rule.

Let us hope that sometime soon, sanity returns to the Republican party, before America becomes irrevocably damaged.

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

Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero.

Monetary Sovereignty

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

–The rising cost of ignorance: Medicare and Social Security version

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 stated purpose of Medicare and Social Security: To protect seniors from the financial issues associated sickness and retirement.

The real purpose of Medicare and Social Security: To provide the absolute minimum of protection, that will retain voter approvals while continuing to widen the Gap between the rich and the rest.

The method: Keep the populace ignorant of Monetary Sovereignty, by pretending Medicare and Social Security can run short of dollars.

South Florida Sun Sentinel

A triple whammy will hit senior citizens in the pocketbook next year, unless Congress can reach a compromise to avoid it.

• They won’t get a yearly raise in Social Security benefits.

• They face a hike in the deductible for Medicare coverage — a cost that comes out of a patient’s pocket.

• Many Medicare recipients will pay far more in monthly premiums.

The costly combination was set off by a near-zero inflation rate over the past year, primarily because of low gas prices.

By law, that means Social Security recipients won’t get a cost-of-living adjustment next year for only the third time in four decades. All three instances have been since 2010.

Prices increased a scant 0.2 percent nationwide.

Individuals who earn less than $85,000 a year and couples who earn less than $170,000 will be spared from an increase in Medicare premiums.

But new enrollees and those who make more than that will be hit with a 52 percent hike in monthly premiums, topping out for the highest earners at $509.80 a month.

On top of that, all patients enrolled in Medicare Part B, which covers doctor fees and other non-hospital care, face a $76 increase in the deductible paid by consumers, jumping from $147 to $223.

All of the above is based on one bit of ignorance: The false belief that the federal government needs and uses federal taxes to pay its bills.

Being Monetarily Sovereign the federal government creates dollars by paying bills. It doesn’t need or use FICA dollars to support Medicare or Social Security benefits. Even if the government stopped collecting FICA, it could continue to fund Medicare and Social Security, forever.

The federal government never can run short of U.S. dollars.

When you are told that Medicare or Social Security benefits must be reduced, you are being lied to. When you are told FICA taxes must be increased, you are being lied to.

The politicians rely on your ignorance of federal financing to squeeze your finances.

Why do they lie? They are paid by the rich, via campaign contributions and promises of lucrative employment later, to widen the Gap between the rich and you.

The wider the Gap, the more power over you the rich have. The Gap, not absolute dollars, is what motivates the rich. The Gap is what makes them rich, and the wider the Gap, the richer they are.

The impending pinch has sparked a backlash. Many senior citizens blame the way the government figures inflation, saying it does not account for rising costs for food, medicine and other essentials.

“As far as seniors are concerned, a lot of us don’t use cars anymore, but everybody has to eat,” said Sam Oser, 89, of West Palm Beach. “At the store, prices seem to go up every week. Seniors have not gotten a break, and I personally think that in many instances a lot of people in Congress don’t give a damn.”

Those (Medicare patients) at higher income levels will pay more on a sliding scale, up to $509.80.

Complaints are pouring into Congress, especially at the office of U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat whose district straddling Palm Beach and Broward counties has one of the nation’s largest clusters of senior citizens.

“We’ve gotten many calls from people who are disappointed and frustrated and don’t understand why this keeps happening,” Deutch said.

Exactly right. They don’t understand because the politicians, the media and the economists (all of whom receive support from the rich) pretend federal finances are like personal finances. They pretend that, like you and me, the federal government can run short of dollars.

It cannot. Ever. Even if every federal tax disappeared tomorrow, the government could continue to spend.

The triple whammy is an unintended consequence of long-standing laws, plus ever-rising health care costs, that neither President Barack Obama nor most members of Congress wanted.

“Unintended??” This Sun-Sentinel writer wants you to believe that the President and Congress are helpless — that they are unable to pass laws funding Medicare and Social Security — that the government has run out of its own sovereign currency, the dollar.

It is a lie. Congress and the President know exactly what they are doing. It’s what they have been paid to do.

Social Security’s yearly raises since 1975 have been determined by inflation as measured by the consumer price index over 12 months. This year, a plunge in fuel prices has brought the inflation rate to zero.

The measurement of inflation repeatedly has changed over the years, always to reduce the published measure. Even now, the Republicans wish to reduce the measure of inflation (though not inflation itself), by using “chained CPI.”

You’ll still pay the same prices, but because the official measure of inflation would go down, your benefits would be decreased, again.

Because of the usual rise in health-care costs, Medicare premiums and deductibles were bound to increase next year. But the law contains a “hold harmless” provision that protects roughly 70 percent of enrollees from a Medicare premium increase if they are not getting a Social Security raise.

That leaves new enrollees and the higher-earning 30 percent to bear the whole burden of next year’s premium hike. This group also includes some Medicaid patients, whose premiums are paid by the state-run program.

All this action is to give the illusion that “we are working hard to protect you.” It’s all a fake. There is no financial reason why benefits could not be increased and taxes decreased.

Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to freeze Medicare premiums and deductibles.

If Democrats really wanted to help, they would eliminate deductibles and premiums, while increasing benefits.

Many senior citizens agree. “How can they say there is no inflation? I don’t know what planet they are on, but it’s got nothing to do with what we pay,” said Mae Duke, 88, of West Palm Beach.

“I hate to tell how my drug costs have tripled. I was just managing. There are those in worse shape than me. It’s going to impact us, no question.”

Republicans, preoccupied with a leadership shakeup in the House, have been mostly silent on the Medicare rate increase.

“Preoccupied” makes it sound as though Republicans will take action, as soon as the election is over. Yes, they will take action — to increase taxes and to reduce benefits further.

Many want to contain the rising costs of “entitlement programs” for fear they will eat up the budget and become unsustainable. Some, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have floated proposals to change the way inflation is figured, not to increase future COLAs but to trim them as part of a larger budget deal to reduce deficits.

And there it is, the BIG LIE, all in one short paragraph:

It is the lie that federal spending can become “unsustainable,” together with the lie that federal deficits should be reduced.

The Big Truth: It is financially impossible for any federal spending to become “unsustainable,” and federal deficits are necessary to grow the economy and to narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest.

The cost of ignorance is about to go up, again.

Open your minds, folks, or open your wallets. Your choice.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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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

Recessions come after the blue line drops below zero.

Monetary Sovereignty

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