Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal 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.
●Cutting the deficit is the government’s method for taking dollars from the middle class and giving them to the rich.
●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 penalty for ignorance is slavery.
==========================================================================================================================================

In the spirit of Christmas, I sent the following letter to Mr. Bruce Dold, editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune.

Dear Bruce:

Merry Christmas

I read your editorial titled, “Merry Christmas, where you spoke pridefully of publishing the phrase “fiscal precipice,” way back in 1893. And I admired your bemoaning the “raging uncertainty for employers, their workers, savers, consumers, investors, federal contractors, service providers.” And your sympathy for “2 million anxious Americans who some time ago exhausted their state unemployment benefits and don’t know if their extended federal benefits now will expire.”

It was lovely.

But then I read your comment about “decades of federal spending beyond the level of revenue Washington was collecting,” and I remembered you’re the newspaper that wants to cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut unemployment compensation, cut food stamps, cut welfare and other aids to the poor, even cut federal employment — because, after all, that’s the only way to cut federal spending.

And I remembered you also wanted to “broaden the tax base,” meaning make more poor people pay more tax.

And I realized your sympathy for middle and lower classes was all crocodile tears.You are smart enough to realize that deficit reduction always takes from the poor, and here you pretend to worry about those folks. What cynicism!

Are you so beholden to the rich, that you are willing to sacrifice your soul, to be complicit in children starving and not having medical care, in homelessness, joblessness and hopelessness? Does it bother you at all that families are being destroyed, and people are cold and hungry and living in squalor for lack of money?

And you pretend to worry that the federal government — not the people — will run short of dollars.

Does it affect you at all that deficit reduction (aka “austerity”) has caused, and continues to cause, massive human misery in every nation in which it has been tried, including your own nation, the United States of America?

Really Bruce, have you no conscience?

Anyway, I wish you a merry Christmas. I hope your family is warm, well-fed and happy, and that your loved ones never will know the pain and panic of starvation and destitution and hopelessness.

But I still must ask, What manner of people are you?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

(In immediate response, I received an automated note saying Bruce is off enjoying the holiday for the week. It didn’t say whether he stayed in his opulent home or went on an opulent cruise, or perhaps just flew to an opulent vacation spot. I’ll write to him again next week, and ask.)

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

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal 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.
●Cutting the deficit is the government’s method for taking dollars from the middle class and giving them to the rich.
●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 penalty for ignorance is slavery.
==========================================================================================================================================

As expected, I’ve received some blowback from MMTers regarding my article titled, “Why MMT frustrates the hell out of me.”

One person told me we really are winning, because “Complete strangers . . . have heard about the coin idea. You can’t expect an economic revolution to happen overnight.” (Overnight? I’ve been at this 15 years. Others, even longer. And now we’re “winning,” as Congress debates deficit cutting, because strangers have heard of the Platinum Coin Solution? Yikes!)

Another person thinks “the anger/expression needs to be reined in, moderate anger is supposed to be more convincing.” (Reined in from what?)

Yet another person told me I’m “emphasizing the power of mass communications too much. The 0.1% have great influence over that alright; but the informal communications networks belong to the people; and it’s been shown time and again that they are more powerful than the media at shaping attitudes.”

As for the great power of informal communications, here are a couple recent editorials from the Chicago Tribune, circulation 425,000:

Harvesting the fiscal cliff

Taxpayers, beware: Farm-state lawmakers want a $1 trillion farm bill packed with giveaways as their price for going along with an agreement on tax increases and spending cuts to curb federal deficit growth. If they get their way, it’ll be a strong signal that Congress is intent only on pushing off today’s cliff crisis, not on real fiscal reform.

Food stamp costs—particularly the abuse of food stamps—need to be curbed.

The “power of informal communications” is so great, the Tribune no longer feels the need even to explain why deficits should be cut. They know the message already is so deeply implanted into the public’s brain, all that is needed is a couple words of outrage about “abuse of food stamps” (a benefit for the poor) and “federal debt growth.”

If we are winning, what the heck is losing?

Then, another editorial:

Balance, Mr. President
Where’s the focus on spending cuts?

President Obama has a golden chance to begin reform of entitlement programs headed for insolvency.

Last Wednesday, in an editorial titled “Democrats, your turn — Commit to spending cuts,” we urged Team Obama to acknowledge that the growth in domestic spending and entitlements has to diminish.

But the president’s reaction, delivered by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, is to cut total spending by a meager $400 million over 10 years while raising a net $1.6 trillion in new taxes. Obama also proposes tens of billions in spending on stimulus projects and continuance of long-term unemployment insurance and the supposedly temporary payroll tax cut.

How outrageous. To stimulate our moribund economy, continue unemployment insurance for the millions of destitute unemployed, and not increase the worst tax in U.S. history: FICA. Isn’t that just ridiculous?

It would seem ridiculous to a newspaper owned by the .1%, whose primary economic goal is to drive down the middle and lower classes.

But continuing:

Politico reported Monday that a poll for a moderate Democratic think tank, Third Way, found 85 percent of Obama voters favoring higher taxes on the wealthy.

Get it, MMT? Americans are pre-disposed to blame the rich. So what do you do? Explain economics, without a word about blaming the rich. You don’t use the single most powerful weapon in your arsenal: Dislike of the ruling class.

Americans also see, courtesy of a Europe wallowing in recession and government debt, the consequences of runaway entitlements.

See, it isn’t austerity that has “Europe wallowing in recession,” it’s all those entitlements given to you poor, unworthy people. You really should sacrifice more, so we rich can live better.

Mr. President, we expect you not to provoke more discord, but to lead a rescue mission — reform of Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid included.

Translation: Don’t “provoke discord” by upsetting the rich. Instead, take more money from the middle and lower classes.

It truly is disgusting at how MMT buries its heads in the sand, and refuses to acknowledge that:

1. The Chicago Tribune is just one medium among thousands, virtually all of which daily bombard millions upon millions of people with the .1%’s message: The deficit is too high, and federal spending must be cut, and the real problem is the middle and lower classes are getting too much.

2. The only way to counter the overwhelming volume of misinformation, from newspapers, TV, radio, magazine, political and mainstream economists, is to point the finger at the perpetrators.

Tell the people they are being screwed and who is screwing them. The people need to rise up in anger.

Heck, even AARP tells its members that Social Security will go broke. When you’re outgunned (and we are massively outgunned), you have to focus on the enemy’s weakness, in this case, the enemy’s weakness is the natural antipathy of the 99.9% for the .1%.

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal 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 penalty for ignorance is slavery.
==========================================================================================================================================

MMT is right about economics. MMT is correct when it says cutting the deficit does not grow an economy, but instead leads to recessions and depressions. I say the same thing.

MMT is correct in favoring the Platinum Coin Solution, which I also favor as a clever way to get around the unbelievably stupid federal debt limit and federal debt concerns.

MMT is correct in wanting an end to FICA, the world’s worst tax, about which I posted back in 2009: “Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA” with the help of two MMT adherents.

I cannot even begin to count the number of things about which MMT is right and our government and our media and the mainstream economists are wrong.

So what’s my problem?

MMT is filled with college professors and other academic minds who believe that if they merely reveal the Truth, the people will learn and follow and all will be well. There is no passion in MMT. They think the people are waiting to be educated, and once seeing the Truth and the Logic and the Wisdom, the sun will shine, again.

Naive.

MMT refuses to recognize that powerful forces oppose the Truth. MMT thinks that outrage “detracts from the message.” MMT supports the calm recitation of facts as a way to change the world.

Yikes!

Has anything ever been accomplished without passion? Were the slaves freed because of a calm recitation of facts? Did King George give us freedom because of a calm recitation of facts? Did the unions free the workers from unfair labor practices because of a calm recitation of facts?

Did Knute Rockne or Vince Lombardi win because of a calm recitation of facts? Has any politician ever won because of a calm recitation of facts? Why must politicians focus on soaring language and slogans, interspersed with bare mentions of semi-fact?

When has the public ever demonstrated a desire to be led by a calm recitation of facts?

MMT likes to stand on a high podium and teach, but it sure doesn’t like to learn. It has no interest in learning the beliefs of the people. So when, from that podium, they disclose the Truth and are met with, “Eventually we’ll have hyper-inflation like the Weimar Republic, “ and “Eventually our grandchildren will pay,” and “Eventually other nations will stop lending to us,” and “Eventually the price will have to be paid” (always “eventually”), and of course, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” — then MMT retreats to dry teaching of the Facts.

MMT tries to dumb down the Truth even more, in a fruitless effort to counter the media’s, the politicians’s and the mainstream economists’ endless brainwashing.

MMT doesn’t take advantage of the one edge they have: People already are disposed to hate the .1% and to believe the worst about them and are ready to march and vote against the .1%, if given a passionate leader to follow, and a logical-sounding reason to believe him.

Here is the calm recitation of facts: Cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, aid to education, housing aid, federal employment, food and drug inspection, financial industry oversight, while increasing FICA and sending dollars to a government that creates all the dollars it wants, needlessly takes dollars out of the economy and out of the people’s pockets.

That is what we’ve told the people. Their response: Disbelief and yawns.

Obama knows the Truth. Geithner knows it. Boehner knows it. Congress knows it. The media, which are owned by the .1% know it. Every politician supported by big money coming from the Kochs et al, knows it and is required to toe the line. They lie because they are paid to lie.

But MMT, does not want to say it. They have “no proof” they say. They seem to think the Kochs of the world waste billions of dollars, just for the joy of involvement, not because they have a selfish agenda.

Meanwhile, MMT spends endless hours trying to recast the facts in ever simpler terms, so even the dullest fool can understand them, then stands puzzled about why all the dull fools in Washington don’t seem to understand. Hey guys: They are paid not to understand.

King George understood. Slave owners understood. Business owners understood. But they felt their own selfish interests were best supported by not understanding — until the people dragged them, kicking and screaming, to understand.

Affecting the rulers requires passion, marching, accusations, threats and people carrying torches and pitchforks.

MMT thinks that a calm recitation of the facts will convince the .1% to give up on their precious income gap or convince the 99.9% to vote against their intuition and the vast amount of daily brainwashing. A million times a day, from all sides, comes the message that the debt is too big, and MMT expects their wee, cautious, logical little academic voices to overcome that?

Nuts!

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

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal 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 penalty for ignorance is slavery.
==========================================================================================================================================

I long have been puzzled and amused by the public’s inability to understand even the simplest ideas regarding their own benefit and safety. The notion of people wasting their time and money standing in long lines to buy a lottery ticket, is probably the easiest example.

The struggle to get people to wear motorcycle helmets is another (though a helmet is to protect your brain, and if you don’t have a brain, I guess you don’t need a helmet).

The belief that cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment compensation, aid to education, food inspection, drug inspection, financial industry regulation, so you can send dollars to a federal government, which can create all the dollars it wants, surely is an amazing example of self-stupification.

And then there are guns. The NRA, worshipped by gun lovers everywhere, has put forth a solution to mass shootings: Place armed guards in every school. As the NRA says, “The only solution to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

The argument really is about automatic and semiautomatic guns, and the prime purpose for owning them seems to be self defense (unless you are hunting a large herd of charging bison) — defense against bad guys and defense against the government.

Let’s forget for a moment, that if you are attacked by a bad guy, you had better already have a loaded AK47 in hand or it will be useless (Sit at home with one in your lap? Carry it down the street, with 30-round cartridge attached?), and let’s go to the meat of the NRA’s recommendation: Armed guards in every school.

Schools merely are places where people congregate, so it would be senseless to protect the many thousands of elementary school, high school and college buildings spread throughout America, without also protecting other places where people congregate: Churches and synagogues, indoor and outdoor sports venues, large stores, office buildings, museums, movie theaters, orchestra halls, bus and train stations, beaches, parks and shopping malls.

There must be, if you add them all up, millions of such locations, and since some of them are quite big, multi-storied and spread out (think college campuses), some would need many, many armed guards. It total, I could imagine the need for — just a guess here — perhaps ten million guards, all carrying AK47s (to even the odds) — a huge army patrolling our nation.

Try to imagine the training needed for that many armed people, not to mention the sheer cost. (You may not realize it, but to be a good police officer requires months of training.) But more importantly, what makes them “good guys” and who supervises them?

For those of you whose paranoia extends to fear of our government, how about 10 million guys, just like you, walking around with loaded AK47s? They wouldn’t work for the government, because you are afraid of the government.

You’d want some independent organization — a militia, if you please — complete with combat fatigues, boots and neck tattoos (Swastikas are nice), which you trust more than the government.

So there you stand in your local mall, carrying your own AK47 (because of “concealed carry” laws), while trained, semi-trained, untrained, good guys, bad guys, sane guys, crazy guys, drunks, drugged up hippies, high schools kids, grade school kids, good shots, bad shots, supervised, unsupervised and someone’s nutty uncle, all are carrying semi-automatic guns.

Meanwhile, in school, your kid is being watched by an armed nut, there to protect him from a hug by the teacher.

It makes me feel so very secure. How about you?

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