–An open letter to #OWS — or in my geographical case, #Occupy Chicago

Mitchell’s laws: Reduced money growth never stimulates economic growth. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Economic austerity breeds austerity and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================================================

This is an open letter to the “leaders” of #OWS (are there any?) or, in my geographical case, #Occupy Chicago:

O.K., we get it and we empathize with it. You’re angry. You’re angry at the banks. You’re angry at the politicians and the rich and the corporations. You’re angry at the lying, the cheating. You’re angry at the unemployment, and gap between rich and poor. We get it. We really do. And we’re with you. We’re angry alongside you.

Now, to get from here to there, you have to figure out exactly where “there” is, and that requires focus. Exactly, what do you want to see happen, and who will make it happen?

Wait! Before you answer, it’s important to know what you’re talking about. Which you don’t. Ask any ten of your people in the street, “What’s the problem and how should it be solved?” and I suspect you’ll receive ten different answers, all ridiculous. The reason: They, and virtually all your #OWS followers, do not understand economics. Specifically, you do not understand Monetary Sovereignty.

The President and both parties have appointed a “super committee” whose assignment is to find ways to reduce the deficit, via some combination of tax increases and spending decreases. What do you think of that? Can you answer today’s single most important question in all of economics: How does a tax increase or spending decrease reduce unemployment or grow the economy?

If you understood Monetary Sovereignty, you would know the work of the “super committee” will exacerbate the problem, as will the result of their non-agreement (automatic deficit reductions). You need to be able to articulate to the world why deficit reduction is like applying leeches to cure anemia.

Can you do that?

It’s not enough to be angry. Everyone is angry. Even the rich are angry — at you. You need to promote specific goals and specific means to those goals, like the few I offered at What Is Your Plan?

The goal is not to punish the rich or to destroy businesses, or to eliminate capitalism. The goal is to lift the lower income classes, and the means are:

1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Provide free Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone, from cradle to grave.
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Provide long-term nursing care insurance for everyone
5. Provide free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Provide a salary for everyone attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate income taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America

Begin to institute #1-#9 today, in the order shown, and if/when excessive inflation starts to occur, institute the first inflation-fighting program the Fed always uses: Raise interest rates. If that doesn’t do enough, begin to cut deficit spending.

Perhaps, you have different ideas. Fine. But, more importantly, you need to understand WHY your goals are both important and attainable, and you need to put forth those reasons in a clear manner, so the public will understand. You need to be able to defend against the inevitable retort, “What about inflation?” You need to overcome intuition, your own, your followers’ and the public’s.

How will you do that?

Today, you are seen as leading an amorphous mob, a group threatening to bring down civilization. That’s why the politicians have been slow to back you. They don’t know what you want. You need to focus, focus, focus, so the world can visualize where you want to go, understand why you want to go there and how you will achieve it, and in that way, join you.

You need to understand, then teach, Monetary Sovereignty, first to your followers, then to the rest of the world. Those are your next steps. And there are plenty of us who can teach you. You have but to ask.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com


==========================================================================================================================================
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. The key equation in economics: Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–Funniest headline of the month: France’s AAA Credit Rating At Risk, Moody’s Warns

Mitchell’s laws: Reduced money growth never stimulates economic growth. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Economic austerity breeds austerity and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================================================

This surely is the funniest headline of the month, perhaps even since the beginning of the recession.

France’s AAA Credit Rating At Risk, Moody’s Warns
From Before Its News, Tue Oct 18 2011

France is at risk of losing its coveted AAA credit rating, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The rating agency published a report noting that it may issue a negative outlook on the French sovereign debt rating in the next three months if the costs of providing financial assistance to other euro zone nations and/or banks places France’s budget in a precarious position. A negative outlook would indicate that France’s credit rating is at risk of a downgrade in the coming years.

In a statement, Moody’s warned that “The deterioration in debt metrics and the potential for further contingent liabilities to emerge are exerting pressure on the stable outlook of the government’s Aaa debt rating.”

Think about it. France, which is monetarily non-sovereign, and so cannot control its money supply and is in real danger of not being able to pay its bills, has an AAA rating from all three major rating agencies — though the agencies are waiting for “further contingent liabilities to emerge.”

But the United States, which is Monetarily Sovereign, and so has the unlimited ability to pay any bills of any size at any time, and even has the ability to pay off all its “debt” tomorrow, saw its rating reduced to AA+ by S&P. Is that a howler, or what?

But wait, it gets even funnier:

Moody’s also noted that France’s debt metrics are now among the worst of its Aaa peers, although they are still supported by favorable “debt affordability,” or a relatively low interest burden when compared to the level of government revenues.

“Favorable debt affordability”? “Among the worst of its peers”? I suppose their debt is affordable, IF they get bailed out by Germany and/or the EU. Otherwise, France will go down the drain. Meanwhile, the AA+ United States needs no bail out, nor ever will. That is the benefit of Monetary Sovereignty, where all America’s so-called “debts” are denominated in our sovereign currency, which we have the unlimited ability to create.

By contrast, France has no sovereign currency. It’s on a euro standard, and when it runs short of euros, it’s out of luck.

But wait, it gets even funnier, yet:

The warning by Moody’s stands in stark contrast to Standard & Poor’s and Fitch – the world’s other two major ratings agencies – which each reaffirmed France’s’ AAA rating in August and have not since published any additional reports.

These agencies continue to demonstrate to the world their abject ignorance of Monetary Sovereignty. And people actually pay attention to these boobs and believe their ratings. Amazing.

And funny.

And frightening.

I award five dunce caps to the three ratings agencies, not because they are more ignorant than many other groups, but because they have set themselves on a high plateau, from which they clearly have fallen into disgrace.

(Having no dunce cap tax, my dunce cap deficit has reached 44. The media, the old-line economists and the politicians tell me this is “unsustainable” and a “ticking time bomb.” Taking a cue from Congress, I shall appoint a “super committee” to get this political hot potato off my hands.)

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com


==========================================================================================================================================
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. The key equation in economics: Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–Another example of how ignorance of Monetary Sovereignty will diminish your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren

Mitchell’s laws: Reduced money growth never stimulates economic growth. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Economic austerity causes civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================================================

Here is yet another example of how ignorance of Monetary Sovereignty will diminish your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren:

Obama pulls plug on troubled long-term care program in new health law, citing design flaws

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, October 14, 3:56 PM

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it is unable to go forward with a major program in the president’s signature health care overhaul law — a new long-term care insurance plan.

Officials said Friday the long-term care program has critical design flaws that can’t be fixed to make it financially self-sustaining.

“Financially self-sustaining” describes the myth that our Monetarily Sovereign federal government can run out of sovereign dollars.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Congress in a letter that she does not see a viable path forward at this time. By law, implementation of the program was contingent on Sebelius certifying it financially sound.

Is the Supreme Court “financially sound”? Is Congress “financially sound”? Is the military “financially sound”? What about the Department of Homeland Security? The CIA? The FBI? Are any of the 1,300 federal agencies “financially sound”?

The program was supposed to be a voluntary insurance plan for working adults regardless of age or health. Workers would pay an affordable monthly premium during their careers, and could collect a modest daily cash benefit if they became disabled later in life. The problem all along has been how to ensure enough healthy people would sign up.

This talks about adverse selection, and is based on the belief that healthy people must pay for sick people. It is a real problem for private insurance plans, because insurance companies are not Monetarily Sovereign. It is not a problem if the federal government paid.

CLASS was intended as a voluntary plan, supported by premiums, not taxpayer dollars.

Taxpayers do not pay for federal spending, although they do pay for state and local government spending. That is the difference between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty.

(The) idea was to give families some financial breathing room. The burden of long-term care is growing. Most families cannot afford to hire a home health aide for a frail elder, let alone pay nursing home bills. Long-term care is usually provided by family members, often a spouse who may also have health problems.

How true. So this unnecessary burden will fall on our spouses or our children. They will be the ones to suffer.

Again and again and again, we find that the ignorance of Monetary Sovereignty diminishes the lives and well being of our children and grandchildren and of us. That is the penalty of ignorance.

I award the President four dunce caps for not understanding the vital need for this easily affordable benefit to American families:

(I now am running a deficit of 39 dunce caps. Dept-hawks would say I “owe” 39 dunce caps, and shouldn’t award any additional, until I levy a dunce cap tax to reduce my deficit. But somehow, I just don’t feel my awarding dunce caps is “unsustainable” or a “ticking time bomb” as the media like to proclaim.)

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com


==========================================================================================================================================
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. The key equation in economics: Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

–Your Congress at work: Updated: October 14, 2011

Mitchell’s laws: Reduced money growth never stimulates economic growth. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Economic austerity causes civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================================================

Your Congress at work: Updated: October 14, 2011
(From the Wilmette Life)

2010 HEALTH LAW, ABORTION: The House on Oct. 13 voted, 251 for and 172 against, to give hospitals that oppose abortions on religious or moral grounds leeway to turn away a pregnant woman seeking emergency care even if an abortion were necessary to save her life. Additionally, the bill would make it more difficult or impossible for women to use their own money to buy policies covering reproductive services in the law’s state-run insurance exchanges. The bill awaits Senate action.

Gotcha, women. No insurance for you. And if you bleed to death on the doorstep of a hospital emergency room, it’s all perfectly legal. And it’s moral, too. Ask your (male) religious leader.

AIR POLLUTION RULES, JOBS: Voting 275 for and 142 against, the House on Oct. 13 passed a bill (HR 2250) to nullify new Environmental Protection Agency rules that would curb air pollution such as mercury discharges by industrial boilers, incinerators and process heaters. […]Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., said the rules nullified by this bill would impose costs on universities, hospitals, government buildings, large commercial properties and industrial facilities.

Forget our health and our children’s health. We don’t want industry to undergo “costs.”

MERCURY EMISSIONS: Voting 169 for and 249 against, the House on Oct. 11 refused to expand HR 2250 (above) to spotlight the health hazards of mercury emissions, whose regulation the bill would delay. The amendment sought to add a finding that “the American people are exposed to mercury from industrial sources addressed by (this bill) through the consumption of fish containing mercury, and every state … has issued at least one mercury advisory for fish consumption.” […] Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., said that . . . it’s important that the American people also know that there is a lot of mercury coming from natural sources . . . .”

Now if only we could get trees to stop emitting mercury. Someone should find out how much money Ed Whitfield is getting from industry PACs.

OBAMA JOBS BILL: Voting 50 for and 49 against, the Senate on Oct. 11 failed to reach 60 votes for ending GOP blockage of President Obama’s bill (S 1660) to spend $447 billion over ten years on creating jobs. The spending would be paid for by a new 5.6 percent surtax on incomes over $1 million. This vote sustained a Republican filibuster and effectively killed the bill. Three Democrats and all 46 Republicans who voted backed the filibuster.

The bill authorizes $50 billion for highway and transit construction, $44 billion in extended benefits for the long-term jobless, $30 billion to help states keep teachers and first responders on the job, $30 billion for school repairs and $10 billion for an infrastructure bank designed to leverage between $60 billion and $100 billion in public works construction. The bill provides $271 billion in tax relief, achieved by accelerating certain business write-offs and halving employees’ Social Security withholding next year — from 6.2 to 3.1 percent of gross income up to $106,800 in wages.

No need to spend money to create jobs for the #99% so long as the banks and banksters are O.K.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com


==========================================================================================================================================
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. The key equation in economics: Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY