Mitchell’s laws: The more budgets are cut and taxes inceased, the weaker an economy becomes. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Austerity = poverty and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

O.K., I admit it. I haven’t counted the reasons. But, here is yet one more reason (out of thousands) why the Tea/Republican push for smaller government and lower deficits is foolish and damaging to America.

Washington Post
Federal funds help crime labs struggling with DNA evidence backlogs
By Melissa Maynard, Published: March 18

Twelve years ago, Congress passed a bill aimed at bolstering the capacity of state and local crime labs. It was known as the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act. The ensuing effort now bears the more modest title of DNA Backlog Reduction Program. But even with the new name, it is an ambitious venture.

Since 2006, Congress has poured $785 million into helping fix the logjam in DNA evidence collection at the state and local levels through this and other programs.

There’s no question that a serious problem exists. Recent advances in science and technology have made DNA a more useful tool for convicting the guilty and exonerating the innocent, but major backlogs persist, despite broad acknowledgment that delays in processing DNA evidence are keeping criminals on the streets.

Federal help is making a difference. Between 2004 and 2010, the Backlog Reduction Program, run by the National Institute of Justice, has funded completion of 172,761 cases and significantly increased state and local DNA laboratory capacity. (Kermit Channel, director of the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory) credits federal funding with dramatically reducing the Arkansas backlog — which peaked at 18,000 cases in 2005 — to 4,200 now.

“Without those funding sources, we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are today,” Channel said. Federal grants have allowed the state to invest in more sophisticated equipment that sorts through evidence faster, as well as nine additional staff members to process the evidence.

Still, while the crime lab is now able to stay up to date with homicides and sexual assaults, property crimes remain a major driver of the state’s backlog. Processing evidence of property crimes is critical, Channel said, not just for solving those offenses but also for investigating others that may have been committed by the same person.

When states expand requirements to include more offenders and arrestees, they often fail to consider the impact on their existing crime lab capacity. There’s not a lobbyist for the rape victims who aren’t getting their samples processed.

A recent report by the Congressional Research Service noted that 83 percent of state and local crime labs say they would see an increase in DNA casework backlogs if federal funding were to disappear.

Funding from the National Institute of Justice has helped state and local labs bolster their capacity so they can sustain higher workloads on their own. Investments in technology and robotics and workflow improvements have enabled some states to process higher volumes of DNA more quickly in ways that aren’t federally dependent.

The bottom line is: When times are tough, people criticize the federal government, and in essence wish to “punish” the government by making it smaller. Big government not only helps solve the myriad problems that bedevil us, but by adding dollars to the economy, big government stimulates all areas of the economy.

On balance, would you like more money or less money spent on crime labs and on police protection?

Cutting the federal deficit to grow the economy, is like applying leeches to cure anemia.

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. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption + Net exports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Mitchell’s laws: The more budgets are cut and taxes inceased, the weaker an economy becomes. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Austerity = poverty and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

Has it ever occurred to you that a private, legally “non-profit” organization, selling products to its members, might have conflicts of interest when lobbying Congress? There often will be times when the business interests of the organization conflict with the best interests of its membership. What happens then?

That excellent web site, Naked Capitalism, ran a piece on AARP titled “AARP Back in Bed With Effort to Cut Social Security and Medicare.”

Readers of this blog know I commented on this situation twice last month”

AARP continues to peddle. This time it’s false information
and
With friends like these: How AARP’s misunderstanding of the facts hurts their members.

As I said in the first post: “AARP, formerly, The American Association of Retired Persons is a huge organization that peddles many things. They peddle insurance, publish a magazine, peddle insurance, produce radio and TV programs, peddle insurance, offer travel packages, peddle insurance, provide tax preparation services and, oh yes, they peddle insurance. They also publish on-line, various advice bulletins, some of which peddle insurance.”

The one thing, on which AARP does not seem to focus, is representing the interests retired people.

Here are some excerpts from the Naked Capitalism post:

In case you missed this saga (it wasn’t one we posted on till now) in June last year, AARP’s board approved supporting Social Security cuts. That followed a multi million dollar ad campaign against the very same stance. They planned to sell the future of old people living off dog food to the membership via a series of town hall meetings.

And to add insult to injury, the AARP plans a “listening tour” which is of course not at all about listening but selling a “Grand Bargain” which is more Newspeak, in this case the idea of a budget deal that includes retirement program cuts. The Huffington Post does a great job of exposing how the leadership of the AARP is flat out lying to its members about its conduct:

An AARP invitation to a secret “Relaxed and Robust Evening of ‘Salon Style’ Conversation” to be held at a Capitol Hill home on March 27, obtained by The Huffington Post, indicates that the organization is still very much interested in a “grand-bargain” style deal that puts Social Security and Medicare cuts on the table…

The list of invitees to the salon event includes a gallery of powerful Washington establishment figures who are on record favoring cuts to Social Security and Medicare. The only firm opponent of Social Security or Medicare benefit cuts on the list, the Economic Policy Institute’s Larry Mishel, said he wasn’t planning to go and wasn’t sure why he was listed as a featured guest. (AARP also responded to the request for comment by inviting HuffPost to attend the off-the-record gathering, an offer we plan to accept.)

Other listed invitees included business leaders and deficit hawks who have long argued for the cuts, including Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, John Engler of the Business Roundtable group for corporate CEOs, and David Walker, a noted deficit alarmist and former head of the Government Accountability Office.

Yet the AARP wants its members to believe this sort of tripe:

“AARP is not pursuing any closed door deals or grand bargains,” said an AARP spokeswoman. “Our main focus is hearing from our members. . . .”

This isn’t even a good con. The AARP has no business “hearing from all sides.” Its mission is to represent its members, and they’ve made it clear they have no interest in having their benefits cut. Indeed, having the AARP stand firm would serve to put focus on the right issues which is that the real problem is Medicare, not Social Security, and the problem with Medicare is a broad social problem, that health care costs have and continue to rise much faster than inflation. Determined pushback from seniors and other parties could put focus on the real issue and serve as an important counterweight to the health care lobby.

The HuffPo article points out the fallacy of the leadership’s turncoat logic:

The irony is that while AARP’s legislative team may be convinced that a deal is inevitable, a grand bargain actively opposed by AARP would be effectively impossible for Congress to pass.

If you are a member of the AAPR or have relatives who are members, send this article on and tell them to call or write and tell the organization that you aren’t standing for this. Nor should you. You are about to be sold out by incompetent lobbyists unless you make a stink. You can also join the campaign at Firedoglake to cancel the event.

Because the public does not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, and because AARP, the media and the politicians don’t explain these differences, it is fairly simple to fool everyone into believing Social Security and Medicare are “broke” (John Boehner’s favorite lie).

AARP goes along with — in fact encourages — the BS, because a free Social Security retirement plan and a free Medicare are not nearly so profitable as paid-for retirement plans and paid for health insurance.

Did I mention? AARP sells insurance.

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. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption + Net exports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Mitchell’s laws: The more budgets are cut and taxes inceased, the weaker an economy becomes. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Austerity = poverty and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

Those looking for humor in the Tea/Republican nomination process, have plenty to work with. Newt is everything the Tea/Republicans claim they hate – multiple infidelities plus no economic plan other than going to the moon. And he really expects the right wing (much less, the entire nation) to elect him.

And Ron doesn’t even want the nomination. He’s just hoping for a good seat at the convention, where he will try to barter his handful of delegates for some Flomax.

So we are left to be entertained by Rick and Mitt.

First came Rick:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Rick Santorum says making English an official language should be a “condition” of statehood for Puerto Rico. Santorum said Thursday that the island would also have to make sure English is spoken “universally.”

The Republican presidential candidate told a Puerto Rican newspaper in an interview this week that English would have to be the “main language” if Puerto Rico were to become a state.

Then came Mitt:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Campaigning in Puerto Rico, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is refusing to back off his criticism of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Minutes after arriving in San Juan on Friday afternoon, Romney faced questions about his charge that Sotomayor is an activist judge. Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, is widely supported by local Democrats and Republicans.

So the joke becomes, who will the Puerto Ricans vote AGAINST? The guy who says he will force them to abandon their native language? Or the guy who says he doesn’t like a popular, fellow Puerto Rican?

I award five clowns, one each to Mitt, Rick, Newt and Ron, plus one to the Tea/Republican party — for trying to convince the country that higher taxes and reduced federal spending will, in some mysterious way, help improve employment and economic growth — and for sending in the clowns.

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. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption + Net exports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Mitchell’s laws: The more budgets are cut and taxes inceased, the weaker an economy becomes. To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments. Austerity = poverty and leads to civil disorder. Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

Could these people possibly get any more stupid? Just when I think they have flown off the top of the stupid chart, they set yet a new standard.

Time Magazine
IMF Approves $36 Billion Funding for Greece
By ASSOCIATED PRESS | March 15, 2012 |

(ATHENS, Greece ) — The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved euro28 billion ($36.56 billion) in funding for crisis-hit Greece over the next four years, while Standard and Poor’s said that the country’s new bonds were still vulnerable to a default.

Greece will receive a total euro172.7 billion in rescue loans from its eurozone partners and the IMF to keep it afloat in the next few years, as dizzily high borrowing rates have blocked its ability to raise money on the international bond markets.

Greece’s problems began when it surrendered its Monetary Sovereignty. Having made itself monetarily non-sovereign, it needs not only to balance its budget, but it needs a positive cash flow (all monetarily non-sovereign governments do). But it has no way to achieve that positive cash flow.

So what is the EU/IMF solution? Lend Greece more money, to put it even deeper into debt, then demand Greece wreck its economy further with higher taxes and lower spending, i.e. austerity.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said “continued reform efforts to improve competitiveness and restore economic growth will be key to overcoming the crisis.”

Oh really? And how will Greece accomplish that, while paying off higher and higher debt?

Without the bailout, Greece would have been forced into a messy default of a euro14.5 billion bond repayment due on March. 20, a move that could have sent shockwaves throughout the global financial system and further destabilized the group of 17 countries that use the euro as their currency.

Translation: We screwed Greece, because we don’t want “messy” or “shockwaves” or heavens-to-Betsy, to destabilize that shining symbol of currency stabilization, the euro.

The new bailout cash was approved after Greece secured a massive debt-reduction deal with banks and other private bond holders, swapping old government bonds for new ones that have better repayment terms.

Translation: We screwed the private sector, too.

The ratings agency Standard and Poor’s assigned a CCC score — or still vulnerable to default — and said Greece’s sovereign rating would remain in selective default until the exchange was completed next month.

Translation: Forget “selective default.” Greece is dead. If we had a ZZZ rating, we’d use it for Greece.

The country has survived since May 2010 on a first rescue loan package worth a total euro110 billion ($143.63 billion). In return for both bailouts, Athens has imposed harsh cost-cutting measures, slashing pensions and salaries while repeatedly increasing taxes.

Translation: See, here’s how economics works. You increase taxes to gut the economy. Simultaneously, you cut pensions and salaries, to impoverish the people. And you slash government spending to finish the job. Then stand back and insist Greece grow its economy while paying off its debts. It should be a good plan. After all, we got the idea from the American Tea/Republican party.

Also Thursday, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said he would ensure the terms of the bailout deals would be met if he is part of the next government. Venizelos is the only contender for the leadership of the majority socialist PASOK party in a vote this Sunday.

Once he takes over the party helm, he will resign as minister to focus on the election campaign. “It is hypocritical to say that you can sign commitments and then say you are not bound by them. That’s an insult to our intelligence,” Venizelos said.

That’s the insult to intelligence? How about the plan to drain blood from the patient, to cure anemia?

Meanwhile, a European Union inspector has reported rare progress in Greece’s effort to reform its large civil service — one of the key austerity measures and a condition of receiving the bailout. Horst Reichenbach, heading an EU task force sent to Greece to assist painful structural reforms, said there had been a “number of very positive developments” including an improvement in clearing tax arrears.

Translation: We’re firing lots of people and collecting more taxes from the few who still have jobs. What could possibly go wrong with that?

I award 6 dunce caps (out of a maximum of 5 — that’s how incredibly stupid this is), to the EU, the IMF, and the Greek leaders who would do this to their own people.

People of Greece: My heart truly goes out to you. You are doomed. Now if only, we here in America, can prevent our leaders from doing the same things to us. They already have begun.

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. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption + Net exports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY