Tag: monetarily non-sovereign

–Anyone heard from Occupy Wall Street lately? Part II

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

We have sent numerous messages to people involved with #Occupy Wall Street. Most recently, in June, we posted “Anyone heard from #Occupy lately? Does anyone care? It was our fifth post about #OWS, beginning last year, each of which begged #OWS to learn Monetary Sovereignty, and to focus on one issue.

The June post ended with:

The business and political leaders, against whom Occupy protests, have learned one thing: Do nothing. Occupy will protest and then they will be gone, and we can resume business as usual.

The public grows weary of ineffectual, random, aimless protests, and Occupy, which began with such great promise, becomes last week’s newspaper. A lost opportunity is a step backward, as people become discouraged and slide into lethargy.

Somewhere, in board rooms around the world, the 1% is laughing.

Having learned nothing in the past year, #OWS is at it again.

Chicago Tribune
Occupy Wall Street marks anniversary with smaller party
Chris Francescani and Jonathan Allen
Reuters, 6:04 p.m. CDT, September 17, 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Occupy Wall Street celebrated its one-year anniversary on Monday with a day of demonstrations that resulted in nearly 150 arrests but failed to produce the turnout or fervor that first propelled the movement into the national conversation.

The demonstrations attracted roughly 1,000 activists, down sharply from last fall, highlighting the challenge the movement has faced in trying to sustain interest in protesting against what it calls an unfair economic system.

“A lot of media is saying that Occupy is dying down, but I think the fact that over 100 people were arrested this morning shows that Occupy is still part of the conversation,” said one protester, Caleb Maupin, 24, of Queens.

Pitiful. These children measure their success by the number of arrests. By that measure, neighborhood drug gangs are politically smarter.

“We’ve been locked out, people my age don’t have much chance of getting a job, so we have to do something to get people’s attention,” Maupin said.

Getting “people’s attention” is only step one, and it’s the easiest one. #OWS could get people’s attention by the simple expedient of parading a naked model down the middle of Wall Street. Then what?

Marching to the sounds of drums, trumpets and saxophones, the protesters showered the streets of lower Manhattan with chants of “All Day, All Week, Occupy Wall Street” and taunted police with donuts suspended at the end of fishing rods.

And what is the message, #OWS? Specifically, what do you suggest?

Occupy Wall Street protesters, who popularized the phrase “We are the 99 percent,” kicked off the demonstrations early Monday near Zuccotti Park, where a spontaneous encampment became their unofficial headquarters last year.

“What happened here a year ago was a process that cannot be stopped,” Pulitzer prize-winning author Chris Hedges said. “What happened here a year ago will ultimately spell the doom of the corporate state.”

Dream on, Mr. Hedges. Which politician’s vote have you affected? Which corporate CEO have you influenced? Exactly what has changed, due to #OWS’s efforts?

“It seems that Occupy Wall Street is losing momentum,” said Vincent Smorto, 63, a network engineer from Brooklyn who stopped briefly to watch the protests. “In the 60s when people were protesting the Vietnam war they knew exactly what they wanted. These folks do not seem exactly clear on what it is they want.”

And there it is. “These folks do not seem exactly clear on with it is they want.” That is the perfect description of #OWS.

Occupy Wall Street briefly buoyed a spirit of U.S. social activism, and drew attention to economic injustice. But as weeks and months passed, donations to the flagship New York chapter have slowed to a trickle, polls show public support waning and media attention dropping precipitously.

So much for “a process that cannot be stopped.” There never was a process, and whatever it was, it already has stopped.

Check out “Anyone heard from #Occupy lately? Does anyone care? to see what #OWS should do to make a difference — if you care.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–Congress’s plan: Spend less while spending more. Cut employment while reducing unemployment.

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

There is universal agreement that the U.S. economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is growing too slowly, and unemployment is too high. So naturally, we expect our President and Congress to do whatever necessary to grow the economy and to reduce unemployment. Right?

The Federal Eye
Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/18/2012
Freeze extension among last pieces of Hill business
By Eric Yoder

A bill that extends the federal employee salary rate freeze at least until April is one of the last major pieces of legislation scheduled for action in Congress until after the elections.

Hmmm . . . What is the effect of a salary rate freeze? Will it stimulate the economy? No. Will it reduce unemployment? No. It will reduce federal spending growth.

But this fundamental equation has showed us that federal spending is necessary to grow the economy:

GDP = Federal Spending + NonFederal Spending – Net Imports.

So the salary rate freeze does exactly the opposite of what the economy needs.

The Senate is scheduled to begin voting as soon as Wednesday on the House-passed “continuing resolution” that provides funds to keep the government operating through March at about current levels. It is needed because none of the regular appropriations bills have been enacted for the government budget year that starts Oct. 1.

Really, what have the President and Congress been doing all year, if not passing appropriation bills? Yes, I know: Campaigning on their sterling records.

Despite the freeze that has kept salary rates at the same level since they last were increased in January 2010, many individual employees have remained eligible for raises on promotion, for good performance or on successfully completing waiting periods to advance up the steps of their pay grades.

Eventually, all federal employees will be at pay-grade GS-15, the highest level, thus thwarting Congress’s ill-considered pay freeze. It’s like watching a Tom (cat) and Jerry (mouse) cartoon, where Tom repeatedly tries to trap Jerry, and Jerry repeatedly evades Tom — though Congress is much less funny.

The House originally had planned to take off next week and then return for one more week, but leaders announced last Friday their intention to recess after this week until Nov. 13. The Senate may also recess after this week.

Phew! These poor guys and gals have been working so hard, and have accomplished so much, they deserve a vacation.

Also apparently to be left for the post-election session are proposals to avoid automatic cutting called sequestration set to begin in January. Administration officials warned last week that such cuts could have “devastating” impacts on a wide range of government operations and could spill over to the federal workforce.

Ideas that have been raised to prevent the sequester include extending the salary rate freeze still longer, cutting the workforce by 10 percent by attrition, and requiring employees to contribute more toward their retirement benefits.

Remember: It was the President and Congress who, after months of intense debate and thoughtful consideration, created and voted for the sequestration. Now they have discovered what we all knew: Cutting the federal deficit will have a “devastating effect on government operations” (not to mention the devastating effect on the economy. But who cares about that?)

See, it goes like this. We all know we need to cut federal spending. How do we know? The Tea Party told us so. But we also know that spending cuts will have a devastating effect on the economy. So we need to find ways to cut spending, while not cutting spending. Why? Because deficits are both bad and necessary for economic growth. And cutting the federal workforce will reduce unemployment.

Simple, isn’t it?

Reminds me of the Paul Ryan budget.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–How can a little, amateurish, two-bit film inflame 1.6 billion people?

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

You may wonder how a little, two-bit, amateurish film, created by one unknown person, can inflame an entire religion of 1.6 billion people — almost none of whom have actually seen the film — causing riots and deaths in 20 countries. The answer, ironically, can be found in the Constitution of the United States:

The 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The ideas expressed in the 1st Amendment are a rarity in this world, and non-existent in theocracies. They are the basis of what we Americans call “freedom” — the basis of America itself.

Cultural Clash Fuels Muslims Angry at Online Video
Moises Saman for The New York Times

When the protests against an American-made online video mocking the Prophet Muhammad exploded in about 20 countries, the source of the rage was more than just religious sensitivity, political demagogy or resentment of Washington, protesters and their sympathizers here said.

It was also a demand that many of them described with the word “freedom,” although in a context very different from the term’s use in the individualistic West: the right of a community, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish, to be free from grave insult to its identity and values.

All theocracies tend to behave in the same way. The religious leaders tell the flock they speak for God. As God’s messengers, they are perfect and cannot be criticized, questioned or mocked, just as God cannot be criticized, questioned or mocked.

Democracies do not flow easily from theocracies, because to vote against a perfect religious leader is to vote against a perfect God. Isreal, Turkey and Indonesia, despite a strong devotion to a single religion, have managed to adopt democratic principles. They are exceptions — for now.

Though Christianity and Islam are sister monotheistic religions, both having evolved from Judaism, they have been at war for 1,300 years. This explains, in part, why conservative Christians strongly support Israel, as that tiny nation is seen, correctly or not, as a bulwark against the spread of Islam.

In America, Christianity has edged away from theocracy, and it is only the extreme right wing that wishes to revert. Thus their repeated complaints that “God has been taken from the classroom” (as though anyone had the power to take God anywhere), their ongoing attempts to teach creationism, their belief that “America is a Christian country” and the installation of Christian symbols in public places.

The use of “In God we trust” on our dollars, and “one nation, under God,” in our pledge of allegiance, are remnants of theocratic leanings.

Said Ismail Mohamed, 42, a religious scholar who once was an imam in Germany, “We don’t think that depictions of the prophets are freedom of expression. We think it is an offense against our rights.”

Even during the protests, some stone throwers stressed that the clash was not Muslim against Christian. Instead, they suggested that the traditionalism of people of both faiths in the region conflicted with Western individualism and secularism.

Actually, it is Muslim against Christian, but it also is right vs. left, theocracy vs democracy. By definition, traditionalism resists change, while individualism seeks change, which explains the comparatively greater scientific advancement of the West.

In a context where insults to religion are crimes and the state has tightly controlled almost all media, many in Egypt, like other Arab countries, sometimes find it hard to understand that the American government feels limited by its free speech rules from silencing even the most noxious religious bigot.

The spiritual leader of the Egypt’s mainstream Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, declared that “the West” had imposed laws against “those who deny or express dissident views on the Holocaust or question the number of Jews killed by Hitler, a topic which is purely historical, not a sacred doctrine. Certainly, such attacks against sanctities do not fall under the freedom of opinion or thought.”

For religious fundamentals, denying historical fact is acceptable, but denying anything related to religion is not. However, if a religious leader denies historical fact, his denial becomes a religious fact, and then, cannot itself be denied.

Denying the Holocaust is also protected as free speech in the United States, although it is prohibited in Germany and a few other European countries. But the belief that it is illegal in the United States is widespread in Egypt.

“This is not the first time that Muslim beliefs are being insulted or Muslims humiliated,” said Emad Shahin, a political scientist at the American University in Cairo.

Hypersensitivity to disagreeable words and ideas, and easy humiliation, is a trademark of religious extremism, and exposes something of an inferiority complex. The West’s far greater scientific accomplishments (in recent years) may add to that feeling.

In the West, many may express astonishment that the murder of Muslims in hate crimes does not provoke the same level of global outrage as the video did.

“When you hurt someone, you are just hurting one person,” said Ahmed Shobaky, 42, a jeweler. “But when you insult a faith like that, you are insulting a whole nation that feels the pain.”

Mr. Mohamed, the religious scholar, justified it this way: “Our prophet is more dear to us than our family and our nation.”

Consider the psychology of that sentence. A family must be cared for, but does not need to be treated deferentially. A God does not need to be cared for, but only needs to be treated deferentially. In loving God more than family, life becomes simpler. One is, at least in part, relieved of responsibility for action or inaction. Deference is easier than giving care.

While (Mr. Mohamed) stressed that no one should ever condone violence against diplomats or embassies because of even the most offensive film, Mr. Shahin said it was easy to see why the protesters focused on the United States government’s outposts. “There is a war going on here,” he said.

Yes, it is the war between Christianity and Islam, entwined with the war between totalitarian theocracy and democracy, mixed with the war between traditionalism and individualism. In the U.S., the war has tilted toward Christianity, democracy and individualism, but we are a young nation, and no one knows where the war will take us.

Islam is a relatively younger religion. No one knows where it is headed. I see a slow trend toward Westernization, though most Muslims currently believe that to become Westernized would weaken Islam.

Or, perhaps the ultra-right wing in America will win our own internal battle, and we will devolve to theocracy. In that event, another little, two-bit, amaturish film, created by one person, will cause us to riot, destroy and kill, as a testament to our love for God.

As in so many things, semantics underlies misunderstandings. Western “freedom” differs from Islamic “freedom.” What we consider trivial, Muslims consider vital. We expect President Obama’s attempts at even-handedness to produce gratitude and cooperation; Muslims see it as hypocrisy and condescension.

So what is the solution? Humans are hard wired for bigotry. Our team, our village, our religion, our race, our political party — we all favor what is ours.

A 1,300 year dispute cannot be solved overnight. It never may be solved. Racial bigotry in America was not solved by the Civil Rights Act. Perhaps, it was ameliorated. But for fundamentalists, tolerance is not tolerated.

The best course of action is to accept the reality of mutual distrust and antagonism and the occasional riot. As British Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston reputedly said, “We have no eternal allies and no perpetual enemies, only interests that are eternal and perpetual.

Realpolitik may be the only course of action.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Cause and Effect: Why the income gap will continue to widen

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

The gap between the upper 1% income group and the lower 99% continues to widen. Here is the cause:

Washington Post
Influence Industry
Dan Eggen & T.W. Farnam
GOP plank in 2012 platform wants to leave campaign spending alone
By Bill Turque, Published: August 29

The Republican Party’s 2008 platform contained not a mention of campaign finance reform in its 68 pages. “We oppose any restrictions or conditions that would discourage Americans from exercising their constitutional right to enter the political fray or limit their commitment to their ideals,” it declares on page 12.

The platform calls for repeal of what remains of McCain-Feingold — mainly the ban on “soft” money contributions to parties — and either raising or abolishing donation limits.

It also opposes passage of any law that would weaken the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which did away with prohibitions against corporate or union spending on elections.

The platform specifically mentioned the Democrat-supported DISCLOSE Act, which would require independent groups to list the names of those donating more than $10,000. The bill died in the Senate this year.

The plank also calls for no regulation of political speech on the Internet.

Republican National Committee member James Bopp Jr. said, “I’m just glad we can reflect what the grass-roots of the party believe. They support the First Amendment and they support no campaign finance restrictions.”

Actually, the average person sympathizes with the idea that wealthy people should not be able to buy votes. When Bopp says “grass roots” he’s talking about the wealthy supporters of the Tea/Republican party. For Bopp and the Tea/Republicans, grass is green and money is green, and the root of political money is the upper 1% income earners.

Like other portions of the platform, the campaign finance plank reflects the party’s steepening conservative tilt. In 1992, the GOP called for elimination of corporate and union political action committees. Four years later, it endorsed “full and immediate disclosure of all contributions” and a crackdown on soft money.

That was then, and this is now. Today’s Tea/Republicans are a completely different breed from the Republican party you may have favored ten years ago.

By 2004, the conservative trend emerged. The party firmly established campaign funding as a First Amendment issue with no government restrictions on individual political expression.

Though the Republicans and the right wing tell you money doesn’t buy elections, you know better. Anyway, you’ve seen the cause; now view the effect:

Census: Middle class shrinks to an all-time low
by Kristen Wyatt/AP – 9/12/12

Income inequality increased by 1.6 percent, the Census Bureau said in its annual report on poverty, income and health insurance. This was the biggest one-year increase in almost two decades.

Median household income declined $777, to $50,054 before taxes. But fewer Americans were without health insurance, largely because of a provision in the 2010 health-care law allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ policies.

The biggest gains went to the top 5 percent, who earn more than $186,000; their share of income jumped almost 5 percent in a single year.

“It explains the disconnect between the numbers saying there’s slow improvement and job growth, and the way people feel, because they haven’t recovered,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, co-director of Measure of America at the Social Science Research Council. “It’s partly because the recovery has mostly been felt at the top.”

Tim Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said the working class, whose pay tops out about $62,000, are bearing the brunt of the income squeeze.

“Their pay rate has gone down, the number of hours that everyone in the house works has gone down, their homes have lost value,” he said. “These are the people really ravaged by the recession.”

The White House quickly offered a blog post urging Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts and pass the administration’s job-creation proposals. Robert Rector, a Heritage Foundation scholar who specializes in poverty issues, faulted the White House for the falling income and high poverty rates.

“We still have a very high poverty rate, because Obama has been unable to generate jobs,” Rector said.

Aside from filibustering or threatening to filibuster every economic stimulus plan offered by the Democrats, it’s difficult to think of anything the Tea/Republicans (the infamous party of “Hell, no”) has done or even offered, that would have increased jobs.

“Said Jane Waldfogel, a professor at Columbia University’s School of Social Work who studies poverty and inequality, “What’s disconcerting is that inequality is going up post-recession, and it’s happening because the top is starting to pull away again,” she said.

The increase in income inequality reflects the recovery’s unevenness, said Richard Burkhauser, an economist at Cornell University. “It rose not so much because the top 10 percent saw a rise in income, but because virtually everyone below the 90th percentile is still falling.”

While the Democrats sometimes are servants to the 1%, the Tea/Republicans are abject slaves, whose sole political and financial ambition has been to unseat President Obama — and causing a bad economy is part of that plan.

The populace has been sold the Big Lie that the deficit and debt are too big. The only way to reduce a deficit is to cut federal spending or increase taxes. The Tea/Republicans are dead set against tax increases, so we are left with spending cuts.

The Tea/Republican’s spending-reduction platform demands cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending, which absolutely, positively will increase the gap between rich and the rest of us.

Additionally, Federal employment (which includes military personnel) already has been cut, and more cuts are in the wind, thus exacerbating unemployment.

In summary: The Big Lie, that the federal deficit and debt should be reduced, is the 1%’s method for widening the gap. As part of the plan, the 1% want to be allowed unlimited spending to disseminate the Big Lie. Thus, the right-wing Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case.

We’re in a downward helix. As the 1% and the right wing become more powerful, they grow more and more able to control the levers of power: Congress, the Supreme Court and the media, who then convince the populace to accept an ever widening gap.

Given the Presidency, there will be no limit to the power of the wealthy over America.

Who are you, and what’s your vote?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY