What people have done in the past is the best predictor of what they will do in the future.

So, here is what will happen at the Clinton/Trump debate:

1. The debate will open with the biggest debate audience in history, but it will dissipate.
2. You will shout “Liar! Liar!” at your TV following each candidate’s statement.
3. Clinton will lie twice, exaggerate seven times  and will dodge two questions.
4. Trump will lie 57 times, will exaggerate every answer, claim everything he ever has done is “fantastic,” and will deny saying things he previously has said.
5. Clinton will list the specific instances of Trump lying in the past and during the debate.
6. Trump will claim that his lies actually are Clinton’s fault, and use the “She started it” excuse.
7. Trump repeatedly will dodge questions by using the digression that “Clinton is a liar, Obama is weak, America is powerless, and he (Trump) is incredible.”
8. Breitbart and Fox will ignore Trump’s lies or deny they were lies, or claim the lies were examples of his strength.
9. CNBC will mention Clinton’s lies, but will focus on Trump’s, and express amazement that anyone believes him.
10. Trump will demonstrate ignorance about foreign matters, and offer no rational solutions for domestic problems, but instead will blame Clinton for Obama, and blame Obama for everything — and vice-versa.
11. Clinton will give wonky, boring, forgettable answers to most questions, demonstrate deep knowledge of foreign matters, deny blame for things that went wrong, and claim credit for what went right, even the things in which she was not involved.
12. Clinton supporters will claim Trump’s lies “prove” he is unfit for office.
13. Trump supporters will claim Clinton’s lies “prove” she is unfit for office.
14. Trump will sneer at the Clinton Foundation, Benghazi, Emails, her health, Mexicans, “thugs,” Muslims, gays, and Bill Clinton, but offer no specific data to back any of his claims.
15. Trump’s generalized “solutions” will involve cracking down on the poor and the powerless, while rewarding the rich.
16. Clinton will decry the Trump Foundation self-dealing, lack of his tax releases, Trump University, bankruptcies, lawsuits, failure to pay his debts, Putin, the wall, bigotry, Trump’s doctor, and the lack of a plan.
17. Her detailed solutions will benefit the poor, but no one will believe her.
18. Neither candidate will promise to put crooked bankers in jail.
19. Neither candidate will mention cheating on spouses.
20. Trump is expected to be overbearing, unprepared, lying, braggadocio, and bigoted, so if he is slightly less overbearing, unprepared, lying, braggadocio, or bigoted, he will be considered “Presidential.”
21. Clinton will try to appear factual and logical, but will be accused of being “Nixonesque” deceptive, no matter what she says. She suffers from the “Dr. Fell” syndrome.
22. Trump will claim the debate was rigged and that he was treated unfairly. He will refuse to participate in future debates.
23. The followers of both candidates will criticize the moderator for asking “gotcha” questions of their candidate, for asking “softball” questions of the other candidate, and for not challenging the lies of the other candidate.
24. Clinton supporters will say she “won” and will say they plan to vote for her, but many will not actually vote.
25. Trump supporters will say he “won,” but not wanting to look stupid, they will claim they don’t support either candidate. Secretly, they intend to vote for Trump, because they hate the same people he hates.
26. The twenty-five people in America, who really had not made up their minds before the debate, will not make up their minds after the debate.

There it is. Now, you don’t even need to watch. You know exactly what will happen, the most important question being the winner — i.e. the winner of the Falcons / Saints game.

Long term prediction: If Trump wins the Presidency, within three months, no one will admit to having voted for him.  If Clinton wins, within three years, no one will admit to having voted for her or him.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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

The single most important problems in economics involve the excessive income/wealth/power Gaps between the rich and the rest.

Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.

Implementation of The Ten Steps To Prosperity can narrow the Gaps:

Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
Although the article lists 10 reasons to eliminate FICA, there are two fundamental reasons:
*FICA is the most regressive tax in American history, widening the Gap by punishing the low and middle-income groups, while leaving the rich untouched, and
*The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses FICA to support Social Security and Medicare.
2. FEDERALLY FUNDED MEDICARE — PARTS A, B & D, PLUS LONG TERM CARE — FOR EVERYONE (H.R. 676, Medicare for All )
This article addresses the questions:
*Does the economy benefit when the rich afford better health care than the rest of Americans?
*Aside from improved health care, what are the other economic effects of “Medicare for everyone?”
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”
3. PROVIDE AN ANNUAL ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA, AND/OR EVERY STATE, A PER CAPITA ECONOMIC BONUS (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:

Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Employer of Last Resort is a bad idea. Sunday, Jan 1 2012
MMT’s Job Guarantee (JG) — “Another crazy, rightwing, Austrian nutjob?” Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Jobs Guarantee is like the EU’s euro: A beloved solution to the wrong problem. Tuesday, May 29 2012
“You can’t fire me. I’m on JG” Saturday, Jun 2 2012

Economic growth should include the “bottom” 99.9%, not just the .1%, the only question being, how best to accomplish that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) favors giving everyone a job. Monetary Sovereignty (MS) favors giving everyone money. The five articles describe the pros and cons of each approach.
4. FREE EDUCATION (INCLUDING POST-GRAD) FOR EVERYONEFive reasons why we should eliminate school loans
Monetarily non-sovereign State and local governments, despite their limited finances, support grades K-12. That level of education may have been sufficient for a largely agrarian economy, but not for our currently more technical economy that demands greater numbers of highly educated workers.
Because state and local funding is so limited, grades K-12 receive short shrift, especially those schools whose populations come from the lowest economic groups. And college is too costly for most families.
An educated populace benefits a nation, and benefiting the nation is the purpose of the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for K-16 and beyond.
5. SALARY FOR ATTENDING SCHOOL
Even were schooling to be completely free, many young people cannot attend, because they and their families cannot afford to support non-workers. In a foundering boat, everyone needs to bail, and no one can take time off for study.
If a young person’s “job” is to learn and be productive, he/she should be paid to do that job, especially since that job is one of America’s most important.
6. ELIMINATE CORPORATE TAXES
Corporations themselves exist only as legalities. They don’t pay taxes or pay for anything else. They are dollar-transferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the government (the later having no use for those dollars).
Any tax on corporations reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all corporate taxes come around and reappear as deductions from your personal income.
7. INCREASE THE STANDARD INCOME TAX DEDUCTION, ANNUALLY. (Refer to this.) Federal taxes punish taxpayers and harm the economy. The federal government has no need for those punishing and harmful tax dollars. There are several ways to reduce taxes, and we should evaluate and choose the most progressive approaches.
Cutting FICA and corporate taxes would be a good early step, as both dramatically affect the 99%. Annual increases in the standard income tax deduction, and a reverse income tax also would provide benefits from the bottom up. Both would narrow the Gap.
8. TAX THE VERY RICH (THE “.1%) MORE, WITH HIGHER PROGRESSIVE TAX RATES ON ALL FORMS OF INCOME. (TROPHIC CASCADE)
There was a time when I argued against increasing anyone’s federal taxes. After all, the federal government has no need for tax dollars, and all taxes reduce Gross Domestic Product, thereby negatively affecting the entire economy, including the 99.9%.
But I have come to realize that narrowing the Gap requires trimming the top. It simply would not be possible to provide the 99.9% with enough benefits to narrow the Gap in any meaningful way. Bill Gates reportedly owns $70 billion. To get to that level, he must have been earning $10 billion a year. Pick any acceptable Gap (1000 to 1?), and the lowest paid American would have to receive $10 million a year. Unreasonable.
9. FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF ALL BANKS (Click The end of private banking and How should America decide “who-gets-money”?)
Banks have created all the dollars that exist. Even dollars created at the direction of the federal government, actually come into being when banks increase the numbers in checking accounts. This gives the banks enormous financial power, and as we all know, power corrupts — especially when multiplied by a profit motive.
Although the federal government also is powerful and corrupted, it does not suffer from a profit motive, the world’s most corrupting influence.
10. INCREASE FEDERAL SPENDING ON THE MYRIAD INITIATIVES THAT BENEFIT AMERICA’S 99.9% (Federal agencies)Browse the agencies. See how many agencies benefit the lower- and middle-income/wealth/ power groups, by adding dollars to the economy and/or by actions more beneficial to the 99.9% than to the .1%.
Save this reference as your primer to current economics. Sadly, much of the material is not being taught in American schools, which is all the more reason for you to use it.

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY