Class Warfare

The national debt exists today because when the nation went off the Gold Standard in 1971 and adopted its present non-convertible fiat currency system, Congress did not repeal its mandate requiring that the Government back all its deficit spending with already existing borrowed dollars whose convertibility was covered by our holdings of Gold. This Congressional mandate to borrow funds by issuing debt instruments, has caused the national debt to persist. Had Congress repealed it when President Nixon took the country off the Gold Standard, and had we ceased to issue debt at that time, then the Government would have re-paid all of our 1971 debts as they came due, and our national debt today, as well as our debt-to-GDP would both now be at Zero. So, the existence of the National Debt today is Congress's fault! Read below the fold...

Meet the Press hosted apologists for Obama and corporatists everywhere. Defense of tax cuts for the rich the topic this time. Opportunities for disgust and disdain against those purist ideology-lefties, a/k/a more "hippie punching," of course was enjoyed by all. All but one, Anthony Weiner, who was the token liberal-sounding one this week (to be piled on). Mikey Bloomberg was blunt that liberal complainers need to “suck it up!” And, oh yes, he wants a subway series. (Yeah, let’s talk about what’s important, boys.) Read below the fold...

Chicago blogger driftglass gives up on Obama:

Wherever there's a fight for tax policies to make sure that the children's children's children of inherited wealth will never have to work a day in their lives, I'll be there.

Wherever there's a Wall Street bankster making sure that the scheme they just invented to Ponzi you out of your life's savings in some new and exotic way is not only perfectly legal, but so central to the global economy that we have to let them keep on grifting even after the scam collapses, I'll be there.

Read below the fold...

Libby and I (and a few others, I hope) will be meeting at Starbuck's at 14th and 4th Avenue, Union Square, at 2 pm. We will be protesting in front of Barnes & Noble, Union Square, until 3:30 or 4:00 pm. Come join us!

We will be handing out her flyers, and holding up these posters. Anyone is welcome to download and use them. File format is Adobe Acrobat PDF; paper size is 11 x 14. Read below the fold...

This is my "Empty Plates" protest flyer. You are welcome to use it! I'm going to staple it to an empty white paper plate and hand it out.

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WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF OUR HUNGRY, NOT OUR WEALTHY! TELL BARACK OBAMA, “USE AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO START A WPA!” Read below the fold...

I'm sick and tired of hearing progressive icons like Bernie Sanders, Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz, and many, many others, talking about the evil of leaving an enormous national debt, now at $13 Trillion plus to our Grandchildren. And I'm especially tired of hearing Congresspeople and Senators complaining about this. The reason why I'm tried of hearing it is that it is Congress's fault that we have a national debt at this point in our history. And also Congress can largely get rid of this debt over a 10 year period any time it wants to.

The national debt exists today because when the nation went off the Gold Standard in 1971 and adopted its fiat currency system, Congress did not repeal its mandate, very appropriate when our currency was convertible to Gold on demand, in least in theory, requiring that the Government back all its deficit spending with already existing borrowed dollars whose convertibility was covered by our holdings of Gold. This Congressional mandate to borrow funds by issuing debt instruments, is what has caused the national debt to persist. Had Congress repealed it when President Nixon took the country off the Gold Standard, and had we ceased to issue debt at that time, then the Government would have re-paid all of our 1971 debts as they came due, and our national debt today would be zero and our debt-to-GDP would now be at 0%. Read below the fold...

[Welcome, Naked Capitalism "must read"-ers! Also, the next post from letsgetitone proposes a different and better "deal," so please read it as well. --lambert]

Cross posted from Real Economics. Read below the fold...

There's a flood of reaction out there among Progressives and other Democrats criticizing the recent “tax deal” on grounds that President Obama was rolled again and got far too little for his agreement to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy, and agree to Estate tax rates of 35%. I share that opinion. But since a) the Democrats have steadfastly refused to use the constitutional option to get rid of the filibuster, b) the Republicans in the Senate will certainly prevent any legislation from being passed this month without a tax cut deal, and c) the unlikelihood that a Republican House will pass an extension of the middle class tax cuts without also passing the tax cuts for the wealthy, the Democrats still need a deal this month if they want to get unemployment insurance extended and other legislation passed.

So what should they to do? Well, for starters, the House and Senate Democrats could send the Republicans and the President back to the negotiating table with some instructions about what else they want in order to make a deal. The most important price they can make them pay in return for the tax cuts for the wealthy they want so much is an end to debt issuance. Why is an end to debt issuance so important? Here's why: Read below the fold...

Lots of sports images bandied about about political behaviors lately. Let me add, above, my limited, angry, clumsy, admittedly tasteless one.

We have no serious leadership as citizens. This President, clueless or craven, is using wiffle balls in a game of hardball when our survival and well being as citizens are at stake.

Could Obama turn the ship of state around? Maybe, maybe not. Could he seriously try? Yes.

Can he even fathom trying? No, and I contend it is because he is beholding to the oligarchs for his very existence as President. Obama’s (their) New World Order does not seriously include us, the citizens. Read below the fold...

Today I was favored with a message from Organizing for America (OFA). They asked me to listen to a video clip from the President explaining the deal he made with the Republicans. The President spent a lot of time explaining the process he's gone through and the constraints he's under, and what it was possible for him to do under the circumstances. He presented himself as being in a politically weak position in which he could only make an unpalatable compromise in order to "get something done" for the American people and those among us who are really hurting economically.

The OFA message asked me to share my thoughts after I listened to the President. So, I did this and also thought I would share them with you. Here they are. Read below the fold...

Posted on HuffPost, taken after the tax cut "deal".

Race to the bottom bay bee!!!! Read below the fold...

In a reply to my post on a progressive deficit reduction plan, a commenter suggested that holding Federal interest costs at the rate of .0226 in the coming years would “crush” retirees and savers, and throw them under the bus. Presumably, the commenter feels the same about the possibility I brought up of eliminating interest costs entirely by ceasing to issue debt instruments. Read below the fold...

Even though I deny that there is a deficit/debt/debt-to-GDP ratio problem, I thought I'd get in on the fun everyone is having this month and offer my own deficit reduction plan. It prescribes 1) Keeping average interest rates at 0.0226; 2) finding a way to increase the growth in nominal GDP from an average annual change ratio of 1.044 (CBO’s assumption about growth) to a more historically (since 1940) typical average annual change ratio of 1.072.; and 3) putting a stop to increasing health care costs by passing Medicare for All immediately. The first two changes would result in deficit reductions in CBO-based projections of $8.3 Trillion from 2011 to 2020. The absolute value of the national debt increases from $9.2 Trillion in 2010 to $10.7 Trillion in 2020, and the debt-to-GDP ratio declines from 69% in 2010 to 37% in 2020. Read below the fold...

Self-styled “progressive organizations” and commentators have been releasing their own deficit reduction plans in reply to the plans released by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, Alice Rivlin and Pete Domenici, and The Peterson-Pew Commission. These new plans, were released by the Institute for America's Future, Citizens Commission on Jobs, Deficits, and America's Economic Future and Our Fiscal Security, a collaboration of Demos, the Economic Policy Institute, and The Century Foundation (TCF). The first, “Report and Recommendations of Citizens Commission on Jobs, Deficits, and America's Economic Future” was written by Jeff Madrick with contributions from Roger Hickey, R. J. Eskow, Robert Borosage, Dean Baker, Robert Kuttner, Robert Pollin, and other unnamed Commission members. The second, “Investing in America's Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic Recovery and Fiscal Responsibility” was written by Becky Thiess and Andrew Fieldhouse, both of EPI, with contributions from Heather McGhee (Demos, Defense Spending), Maggie Mahar (TCF, Health Care), and Josh Bivens (EPI and relating public investments to economic growth). The report was also written under the guidance of Greg Anrig (TCF), Tamara Draut (Demos), and John Irons (EPI). Read below the fold...

Pravda pimps for the Bernanke: Read below the fold...