What a F***ing idiot you are!!!

I don't know if you noticed but the Soviet Union fell a few years ago and communist ideals have been gone in China and Vietnam for a couple of decades. The sole reminent of Marxism still exists with the Castro brothers in Cuba but that is about it. What we are now facing is a threat from huge multinational corporations and cartels that are turning nations including ours into kleptocracys where justice and governments are just commodities to be bought and sold. There is a grave threat to our republic but it sure as hell is not communism.

You are all idiots. Does that statement upset you? Would it be easier to swallow if I said I was an idiot too? The answers would be yes and no, respectively, I expect. No, I am not actually calling any of you idiots, that was a ploy. The point is, name calling doesn't do anything, except distract from the discussion. I AM an idiot sometimes, but I decide that, not you. When someone calls me a name, I either own it or forget it and then I'm done with it. It means nothing.

Labeling things or people doesn't change a thing about them or it, it only changes your attitude towards them. One person gives a dollar to a homeless man, another gives a sandwich. Which one is a liberal and which a conservative? I bet you tried to answer that question, but here's the thing, you can't, because you don't know WHY each person did what they did. You tried to label them anyway, with little information, because that's the way we have learned to do things. I suggest we stop "reading between the lines" and "mind reading" when dealing with people.. Labeling is actually SELF destructive, as it closes our minds to possibilities that might be of benefit to us.

Resolving problems first requires identifying the problem and the problem is NEVER ideology. The color orange is a certain frequency in the light spectrum and one's ideology has no effect on that. Accepting different viewpoints as valid, does not change ideology. From one perspective, the orange may appear more red, from another more yellow, but it is STILL orange. That means that all viewpoints have value and using the aggregate of them can lead to a more complete picture. Rejecting another viewpoint because it differs from one's own, is a self defeating action. Trying to get a glimpse of the bigger picture, REQUIRES examining other viewpoints. Those with a camera phone mentality will never have the IMAX 360 ability to deal effectively with problems. Too many people use "selfies" as their way of understanding the World.

February 3, 2014 by Dr. Kevin "Coach" Collins
Question: It’s clearly unpatriotic to be a Democrat; but is it immoral?

Democrats hate the military and are always working to undermine America’s defense so we have no protection from their international friends. When they are in power, Democrats always act in ways that favor America’s enemies and insult our friends. Hearing Democrats say they are embarrassed to be American is commonplace from newsrooms to the highest offices of our government.

Democrats have urged surrender in every conflict we have been in since Viet Nam. Immediately after a terror attack, Democrats jump to act as apologists for those who would see us dead. It is hard to find a Democrat under 60 who is patriotic, and it’s a good bet that those who ran off to Canada in the 1960s and 70s are today’s most reliable Democrats.

Clearly Democrats are not patriotic, but there is good evidence that they are immoral as well.

They are the Party that has gleefully declared itself enemies of God. They have booed God’s name. They cheered Barack Obama during his phony government shutdown when he threatened to arrest Catholic priests who tried to minister on federal property.

Bloodthirsty Democrats see even partial birth abortion as a secular sacrament and worship gay “marriage.” Their stranglehold on healthcare has endangered the lives of millions of Americans. Poverty levels under Democrats are always climbing because of their greed and avarice.

Their deficit spending immorally burdens future generations far into the future. They want to go easy on criminals while stripping us of our right to own guns for protection.

Government-run schools in Democrat-controlled cities are among the worst in the country. They constantly promote class warfare, pitting rich versus poor and vice versa.

They are underrepresented in our military and over-represented in our jails.

Surveys show they are the least charitable among us, preferring to spend the money they tax out of other people rather than their own.

By any standard, Democrats are clearly unpatriotic and immoral.

Incoherent drivel. This is the real story of class warfare:

Think of the US economy as a wash bowl with water serving as money. Imagine three sets of faucets and corresponding drains representing different ways that money enters and exits the economy. The analogy will show how control of the money flow can attain and maintain a prosperous economy while avoiding severe inequality.

“WATER” LEVELS

When the level of “water” is near the bottom, the economy is in a deflationary spiral. Who would spend a dollar today if it would buy more tomorrow? We have a depression with a 25% unemployment rate and low GDP.

When the level is higher but still below the half mark, the economy hovers between deflation and inflation. We have a recession with 10% unemployment and little GDP growth.

When the level is slightly above the half mark, the economy is in the range of 1% to 2% inflation. We have a precarious economy with a 7% unemployment rate. It’s the January, 2014 US economy with a slowly rising GDP.

When the level is at a point not too close to the brim of the bowl, money is easily available. We have reached our 2% inflation goal and the unemployment rate is down to 4%. GDP is growing at a 3% rate. Prosperity at last!

When the level is close to the brim, a lack of slack causes shortages and too much money starts to chase too few goods. Harmful inflation rises above 3% and the unemployment rate drops below 4%. Fed! Raise the interest rates!

Closer to the brim, the economy may become unstable due to an increased velocity of money (transactions per week at a given “water” level) making GDP and prices climb. Imagine how bad it gets when the bowl overflows!

Of course, we want the economy to attain and maintain the prosperity level. To attain that level, we have to manage the flows. To maintain that level, we have to micro-manage the flows.

“WATER”

The transfer of funds among owners does not affect the level of “water” in the bowl. However, severe inequality of wealth takes a large portion of the money supply out of economic service and lowers the effective “water” level. Also, excessive private debt implies that creditors also sequester funds, lowering the effective “water” level.

The US Treasury offers several types of term-deposit accounts called “treasuries”, similar to a “certificate of deposit” or “CD”. Thus, US bonds are equivalent to savings accounts. Neither the amount of money contained in these accounts nor the transfer of funds between these accounts and other accounts affects the “water” level.

The Fed may also buy and sell treasuries in the market but must return 94% of its earnings to the Treasury. Neither the amount of funds in the Fed’s account nor the transfer of funds between the Fed’s account and other accounts affects the level of “water” in the bowl but may change the interest rates of the treasuries at auctions.

FAUCETS AND DRAINS

The Bank-Loan faucet creates money out of thin air. Of course, these loans create debt, not savings, but the economy can’t tell the difference. The corresponding drain is Loan-Repayment, where the money vanishes.

Can these bank-related flows be controlled to manage our economy? Effectively, the loans always add to the “water” level, the amount added increasing as the “water” level rises and the economy improves. Near the brim of the bowl, the contribution of bank lending is the main cause of inflation. Rather than the flows controlling the economy, the reverse is true. So we can’t manage the economy by controlling these flows.

Another source of money is the Export-Receipts faucet. Import-Payment is the corresponding drain. A trade surplus would increase the “water” level. Unfortunately, our trade deficit is lowering the level.

Governments set trade policy but the transactions are made by millions of individuals everywhere acting in their own interest. Again, it is the relative state of the various economies that control the flows of trade rather than the reverse. So we cannot manage our economy by controlling trade.

The last faucet is Congressional-Spending. IRS-Revenue is the corresponding drain. There is no connection between the two. Just as you would destroy your redeemed IOU, the IRS destroys all its receipts, shredding bills and melting coins for scrap. Since Congress can’t touch a cent of tax revenue, it creates fiat money out of thin air, just like the banks. In effect, Congress writes a check that the Treasury never bounces. If the annual expenditure exceeds the tax revenue, the Treasury matches the deficit with an auction of bonds (savings accounts).

Can the economy be managed by control of the IRS-Revenue drain? Tax wars are brutal. At most, we could set a stable flow rate at a reasonable level. So we cannot manage the economy by controlling the IRS-Revenue drain.

So, by exhaustion, we find that Congressional spending is the only means of controlling of the economy. Congress creates fiat currency at zero cost. The only rational restraint on its spending is the threat of HARMFUL inflation.

To ATTAIN prosperity, Congress can and must spend enough money on much-needed infrastructure.

To MAINTAIN prosperity, Congress can and must spend enough money on infrastructure while the Fed controls interest rates and the administration micro-manages the economy by careful scheduling of infrastructure projects.

To the extent that Congress spends more than that amount of money, Congress would cause harmful inflation.

To the extent that Congress spends less than that amount of money, Congress would cause unemployment.

To the extent that Congress allows the occurrence of unemployment rates that weaken the bargaining strength of labor and promote inequality, Congress would be wilfully malevolent.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ …This essay was inspired by J.D.Alt’s e-book: “Diagrams & Dollars” (Amazon) and by the blog of …Dr. Stephanie Kelton, Chair of the UMKC Economics Department, at NewEconomicsPerspectives.org ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
…© 2014 Marvin Sussman All Rights Reserved. Permission granted only to copy entirely.

It's because change is scary. Clinging to the familiar, no matter how destructive, gives people a false sense of comfort. We are a nation of cowards. When we hurt, we want pain medicine, right NOW! When we drive somewhere we want people to get out of our way, right NOW!
We have no patience anymore, no tolerance and no desire to experience discomfort of any kind. We would rather pretend that somebody else will fix things, while we maintain our comfort level.
All the squabbling and insults here, are generated by fear. Fear that what someone says may be right and their world view wrong. Anger is merely an expression of fear. Trying to " convince" someone of something is impossible, but giving them the information is always valuable. You never know when something will stick.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

It’s funny. The Left has some kind of complex about conservatives. They prattle on and on about how tolerant they are, but in the end, they posses about as much tolerance as the guys who flew into the twin towers. They don’t respect conservatives. This makes sense—I don’t respect liberals in terms of their perspective, but I do respect them as people. This is where conservatives and liberals differ—well, and everywhere else. While conservatives see the person behind the political views, liberals just see the enemy.

Glaucon,
You don't really want to know the truth, do you? (Remember Gov Romney's 47% remark during the last election cycle?)

With (at least) 47% of the people paying no income tax (and some percentage of that 47% actually receiving money back from the IRS when they paid in nothing), Who do you think is paying the taxes? Where is the money coming from?
Why did Obama raise the tax rates on the "rich" if they don't pay them anyway?

The selected tax dodges that are in place for the rich are there because the GOVERNMENT put them there !
And the government has just now (or in the process) of hiring 16,000 new IRS agents to enforce the ACA requirements. WRONG DIRECTION BY THIS ADMINISTRATION.
Go to the FAIR TAX and put the IRS out of business. Let everyone have some skin in the game.
1oldgeezer