Bullies are cowards in tough-guy clothing.

The Republican party, and its leader, Donald Trump, have a well-deserved reputation for bullying and  cowardice.

Example: Being so frightened of unknown “bad guys,” the right-wingers all want to have guns, and not just have guns, but carry guns everywhere. And not just any guns, but high-powered, semi-automatic guns with large magazines, capable of killing as many people as possible in seconds.

Example: Being so frightened of Mexican “criminals, drug dealers and rapists,” the right wing wants to build a gigantic wall across the entirety of America’s long southern border (based on fear-mongering lies about Mexican immigrants).

Example: Being so frightened of non-citizens, Trump and his fellow xenophobes want to deport all aliens and even to deport their American-born children (who by law are citizens).

Example: Being so frightened of Muslim terrorists,  Trump and his right-wingers want to prevent any Muslims (except rich Muslims) from coming to America (a violation of the U.S. Constitution).

So the reactions of the bullies and the cowards to the terrorism in France should come as no surprise:

Trump Calls For Limits On Immigration In Response To Nice Attacks

Donald Trump responded to the attack in Nice, France, by calling for a crack down on immigration into the United States from “terrorist areas” and saying that if he would declare war against the Islamic State if he were president.

Then, in typical Trump fashion, the leader of the Republicans began to babble generalities:

“Obama is allowing a lot of people to come in. We have no idea who they are. They’re from Syria, maybe, but they have no paperwork many times. They don’t have proper documentation. I would make it – I would not allow people to come in from terrorist nations. I would do extreme vetting,” he said.

“A lot of”? “From Syria, maybe”?  “No paperwork many times”? Do we really have “no idea” who they are?  And exactly which nations are “terrorist nations.”

His panic is palpable. This is the man who, if President, should be the calm, controlled leader of the free world, instead maintaining his persona as frightened bully.

When told that the recent shooting in Orlando was carried out by an American, Trump responded with yet another fear-mongering generalization: “The second generation turns out to be very bad for whatever reason.”

Really? The second generation is “very bad”? Based on how many “very bad” people? In the fearful imagination of a cowardly bully, a tiny number becomes an entire second generation of people.

When asked if he would ask Congress to declare war on the Islamic State as president, Trump said, “I would. I would. This is war.”

That was the response of the cowardly draft-dodger, who criticized a real war hero (John McCain), but who himself wriggled out of the military by getting a medical deferment for “bone spurs in his feet” (which appeared suddenly and mysteriously just two years after he received a 1A physical evaluation).  Ever the frightened bully who would be President.

Ever the frightened, fear-mongering bully who would be the leader of America.

And lest you think Trump is an aberration, there’s this:

Gingrich: We Should ‘Test’ Every US Muslim, Deport Them If Believe in Sharia

“Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be,” the former House speaker said. “Western civilization is in a war.

We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with western civilization.”

Gingrich did not expand on what this test would involve, how it would be applied to the 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States or where the U.S. could deport American Muslims who are citizens.

The proposal would likely violate Constitutional protections of the free exercise of religion and of due process.

“The first step is you have to ask them the questions. The second step is you have to monitor what they’re doing on the Internet. The third step is, let me be very clear, you have to monitor the mosques.”

If ever you have wondered how the entire nation of Germany went insane when it blindly followed Hitler into the Holocaust, you now have your answer.

Then, it was the Jews who were persecuted. Now, the right wing wants to persecute Muslims and non-citizens. It always is the same reason: A crazed, power-hungry, megalomaniacal leader, preys on the fears of the people, and leads them into hatred, immorality, deportation, and eventually, murder.

In all the world, the only thing more dangerous than a coward with power is the maddened mob who follows the coward with power.

We only can pray America will not become that nation. America should not need to suffer the nightmares of Nazism and McCarthyism only to face Trumpism.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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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 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-tranferring 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 an 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