I'm truly sorry that this is so awkward and I'm guessing painful for you. For what it's worth, my take follows. However, I need to say first, n total t***sparency, I grew up going to a Southern Baptist church. After being on, of all things a pastor search committee, I became disenchanted with organized religion and have not looked back. I consider myself a spiritual person and that I have a strong personal relationship with God. Well, here goes.

To borrow from rumatoid, t***h IS t***h or another way to put it, human "bias" is just that and not t***h. That said, right, left, in between do so disrespect God when they insert Him into, when it comes down to it, their petty bickering and their twisting scripture into something it isn't meant to mean to cloak themselves in righteous indignity. There's nothing politically correct about invoking HIS name for a political cause or for political gain. Some seem to also forget, that there isn't a soul on this earth that has proprietary rights to God, totally the opposite. We should all take care to remember that we are ALL his children. I would think God rather displeased to see his children using His name in vain to either blackmail or shame one another. Those of us who believe each have our own personal relationship with God, and that's how it should stay in my opinion, between God and each individual. It's nobody else's business. As for all the rest, I believe that's what he gave us free will for.

No, truly, thank you. I forgot to breathe for a moment. I know I must have, without realizing it, uttered a very soft "Ohhhh", because my husband asked if something was wrong. My reply was "no, at this exact moment, everything is very right." How articulate you are here and what insight. You give stunning clarity to the heart of the matter. It's really a shame, if I am the only one to have read this post. More's the pity. If I had the computer sk**ls to do it, I would flash your post ALL OVER OPP, indeed I would.

Instead of a minimum wage, we should have an ELR (Employer of Last Resort) program in which the federal government hires any adult who is unemployed at (say) $10.00 per hour for a 40 hour week with full health and other fringe benefits. These employees can then be put to work at zero cost by any federal, state, or local government office or by certified NGOs.

This establishes a minimum wage level that private enterprise must exceed. The result will be an increase in business costs and an increase of price and/or decrease of profit. But will it bring on inflation?

Before inflation rears its ugly head, many millions of Americans will be getting more income, spending it, decreasing inventory, increasing production, and getting hired away from ELR ranks by private enterprise. The question then becomes: will there be a shortage of goods or will the increased production level create enough goods to prevent inflation?

The answer lies in productivity, which brings us to the question of infrastructure. If we spend on infrastructure like we spent on World War II, we will have the world's best infrastructure and the world's highest productivity and there will be no harmful inflation and very low unemployment and the ELR ranks will thin out.

So the answer to the minimum wage question is federal spending: ELR and infrastructure. That brings up the last question: the budget.

Q1: Is our so-called “national debt” a serious debt, a burden we must repay?
A1: No, It lacks both of those two essential qualities of a serious debt. It’s a “Debt In Name Only”, a “DINO” -

1. A serious debt is a burden. OUR DINO IS NOT NOW AND NEVER WILL BE A TAXPAYER’S BURDEN.

Our DINO is the total value of all issued and still maturing treasuries. By calling our DINO “unsustainable”, a h**x meant to privatize Social Security and Medicare, Wall Street con artists seeking a fortune in commissions have panicked the ignorant public, journalists, and Washington politicians. But, effectively, the taxpayers do NOT redeem mature treasuries. In a virtual rollover, it is the buyers of newly-issued treasuries who redeem the mature treasuries! In every auction, more bonds are demanded than are available from new issues. Auction winners get the safest, most liquid US dollar instruments; the losers are stuck with bank risk. If necessary, the Fed could even create a demand for treasuries by buying large quantities in the open market with cost-free keystrokes. The taxpayer is NEVER burdened!

Our Treasury does not borrow money like a home-buyer undertaking a mortgage. It is a custodian of funds, like a bank accepting money offered for certificates of deposit. While a bank with too many bad loans can certainly have too many maturing CDs, our non-lending Treasury cannot have too many maturing bonds unless its deficit spending is causing harmful inflation. And that happens ONLY in a war or emergency requiring rationing. It NEVER happens during a recession. During prosperity, banks are ALWAYS the main cause of inflation, creating over $6 of credit for every $1 of deficit spending. To curb inflation, let’s regulate the banks before restricting spending on infrastructure.

2. A serious debt must be repaid. OUR DINO WILL NEVER BE REPAID AND SHOULD NEVER BE REPAID.

Only a budget surplus can reduce our DINO. Since dropping the gold standard in1971, we have had only four years of very modest surplus. None is now in sight. To supply enough treasuries, the ONLY risk-free instruments used for trade collateral, insurance, pensions, bank reserves, etc., OUR DINO MUST GROW WITH OUR ECONOMY. In fact, deflation and depression will hit us hard unless big budget deficits replace our cash now flowing into China.

Q2: Could savers make a “run” on Treasury bonds?
A2: Yes, when savers can get risk-free returns from the Wall Street casino or from GM bonds, Illinois bonds, or Detroit bonds. Safety is not everything. Safety is the ONLY thing! That’s why the whole world relies on US bonds.

Q3. Could savers stop buying Treasury bonds?
A3. Sure, when nobody needs risk-free interest for trade collateral, insurance, pensions, bank reserves, etc., etc.

Q4: Could savers prefer foreign sovereign bonds?
A4: Yes, indeed! So far, almost two thirds of the world’s reserve currencies are in US dollars and about half of all US Treasury bonds are held by foreigners. But if China’s infrastructure and productivity become better than ours, its sovereign bonds could become safer than ours. But that could happen only if US v**ers worry more about our DINO than they worry about our falling bridges, failing schools, leaking sewers, aging power grids, etc., etc., etc.