Time for Change is here
So many people have vested interests in maintaining the status quo that change is difficult at best. Depending on the magnitude of the change, it can be nearly impossible. Take, for instance, America’s body politic before Trump.
Our government had, for all intents and purposes, ceased fulfilling its mission: the governing of its people. The interaction of its two warring factions had ground all progress to a halt. One side, in pursuit of equity and fairness, became mired in its own status quo and did not see what was happening. The threatening neoliberal economics, pursued by the other side, was intent on small government and less regulation.
A similar disfunction occurred in America during the 1920s, culminating with the stock market crash of 1929. The ensuing global economic ruin was so catastrophic, so completely shattering the status quo, its instability caused World War II. The election of FDR began 50 years of unprecedented progress of, by, and for the people of America. Rebuilding in the aftermath of WWII produced Europe today. Never, in the history of the world, has there been a time where the needs of the many outweighed the wants of a few.
The gridlock in our system has produced Trump, the epitome of unrestrained capitalism with utter disregard for wealth disparities. He is breaking our governmental status quo with a wrecking ball. Moneyed interests are crushing liberal ideals aimed at equality and inclusion. Momentous change, in America, is at hand.
Never let a crisis go to waste
No one knows exactly what lies before us. There is both hope and dread where we stand. In the 1900s, under the stress of egregious wealth, we economically wandered into disaster. This time great wealth is intentionally, knowingly, imploding the status quo while ignoring history’s tendency to repeat itself. We are heading toward economic catastrophe.
It took the forces of greed 5 decades to recover from their last debacle. The elections of Reagan and Thatcher started the neoliberal revolution culminating with Trump, Vought, and Project 2025.
The current wholesale destruction of the status quo may still avoid complete economic failure, if we manage to stop the Trump Regime in time. We prepare for the window of change and transformation that is at hand. If Trump is stopped before complete financial collapse, Europe will survive the destabilization emanating from us, and America can break away from the neoliberal economics that dominates us.
Unlike 100 years ago, we already possess monetary tools proven to work. These tools kept England from complete failure in WWI and provided the framework for governments in America and Europe that better meet the needs of the many. The successful economic policies of John Maynard Keynes can be summed up in one phrase: government must do what private enterprise will not.
Capitalism, by its nature, creates profitable ventures. It will not provide economic stability, will not stop inflation, will not stop boom and bust economic cycles, will not control market forces, will not provide equality of opportunity, will not deal with racism, will not care for those in need, will not employ everyone. Its single-minded focus on profit will not allow it.
This is what we must do
There is a singular solution for all the things capitalism will not do. FDR tried and failed to enact this. It has been successfully, but temporarily, tried by India and Argentina. It has been proposed as a solution many times, most recently by Pramila Jaypal in 2020. It is a solution that will beat back the forces of oligarchy and greed: A Federal Job Guarantee.
It is the road not taken like the one conceived by Robert Frost, published in August 1915.
It is time to embrace the ‘road not taken.’ It is time to make a difference. It is time for a Federal Job Guarantee.
The Way Forward for Democrats
Introduction
The Democratic Party faces a critical juncture. The elected representatives are failing to uphold their oaths to “protect and defend the Constitution from enemies, foreign and domestic.” Their response to the current threats to democracy and the dismantling of government institutions has been underwhelming. If this situation is not addressed soon, America risks suffering the same fate as the Weimar Republic in Germany under Adolf Hitler.
Current Situation
Although Democrats do not currently control the White House, Supreme Court, House, or Senate, this does not mean we are powerless. Recent events provide clues to effective action.
Governors’ Actions:
- Janet Mills, Governor of Maine: She publicly refused to comply with Trump’s new discriminatory transgender athlete rules, leading Trump to declare that Maine would receive no federal funding.
- Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania: He successfully sued the administration over $2 billion in funding for his state, making it clear that he would withhold all payments to the IRS from Pennsylvania if the money were not provided.
Effective action
A governor has the power to redirect federal taxes collected in his/her state. Unless or until collective demands by the governors of the following states are met, all federal taxes collected by businesses and organizations will be redirected to each state treasury. These states collectively hold the power of the purse: Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Why this will work: This tactic worked in Pennsylvania because, for Trump, everything is transactional. The above-named states each pay out more in federal taxes than they get back, meaning, this will sharpen the pain felt by Republican states, all of which receive more from federal taxes than they pay in. This will erode their support for Trump. He will not let that happen.
Additional states: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kentucky, and North Carolina may wish to join this effort because they each have Democrats in their State Houses. The more extensive the protest, the better chance it will succeed.
Details: Participating governors must be fully committed. They must have a spokes-governor, so they speak with one voice. Simultaneously, each participating state must call out the national guard for a State of Emergency just prior to contacting President Trump. This will ensure that the military in each state is under the control of the governor and cannot be called out against them.
No money withheld from the federal government will be replaced but, instead, it will be used by each state for its needs. All the states will then be able to fund programs typically covered by federal government commitments. Hawaii and California can start recovering from their devastating fires. When demands are met, federal tax money will again flow to the IRS. If demands are not met, federal tax money from these states will end entirely. The longer it takes, the more money will be withheld.
Your part
The only way we keep our democracy and institutions is through unity. This boycott by our governors must be supported. Call your governor today, tomorrow and every day, urging them to take action in defense of our democracy.
10 things that need to be done (my list of demands)
In actual dollars the U.S. government spends more than any other country in the world. On a per capita basis, we are 5th and yet our citizens receive far fewer benefits of that spending than our neighbor Canada (17th in per capita spending). Even I believe we spend too much money and, politically, I am somewhere to the left of Bernie Sanders. If you want a more responsible, efficient government, let me help.
- Stop withholding federal spending that has been approved and budgeted for.
- Stop Musk from cutting federal jobs
- Enlist the help of Democrat and Republican lawmakers to reorganize departments to find actual savings.
- No tax cuts for the wealthy and no tax increases for the bottom 20%
- Eliminate all subsidies for wealthy individuals and corporations. These corporate subsides alone account for more than $80 Billion in savings. There are plenty more.
- Ensure the Defense Department accounts for its spending (It has failed the last 7 audits). Any unaccounted spending from its 2025 audit, cut from their budget, a potential savings of $200 Billion annually.
- Break up the monopoly of Defense Contractors to prevent price gouging, which adds more than 25% to every contract.
- Rehire all IRS staff tasked with tracking down rich tax cheats and making them pay, which could account for more than $150 Billion annually.
- No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. Remove the salary cap on SSI and Medicare deductions to make them solvent for the next 75 years.
- Trump and Vance must sign letters of resignation that will take effect if, for any reason, free and fair elections do not take place in 2026 and 2028.
Conclusion
The Democratic Party stands at a pivotal moment in history. Our elected representatives must rise to the occasion and fulfill their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution. The actions of governors like Janet Mills and Josh Shapiro demonstrate that we are not powerless. By redirecting federal taxes and taking a unified stand, we can exert significant pressure and bring about meaningful change.
Unity is our strength. By supporting our governors and demanding action, we can preserve our democracy and ensure that our institutions remain intact. The proposed measures, from stopping indiscriminate federal job cuts to ensuring accountability in defense spending, are essential steps towards a more responsible and efficient government.
Together, we can make a difference. Call your governor today and every day, urging them to act in defense of our democracy. Our collective efforts will pave the way for a brighter future for all Americans.
Dear Democratic leadership: Do you want to win in November?
The 2024 campaign has begun. Joe Biden, despite his accomplishments, is flagging in the polls. We Democrats have 20 Senate seats up for re-election and the Republicans in charge of the House holding the nation hostage over the budget and trying to impeach this entire administration. It would not surprise me if they started hearings to remove Commander, the president’s dog. But you already know this.
Do you want to win in November?
When I ask if you want to win in November, I do not mean simply keep Biden/Harris in the executive branch. Nor do I mean keep a one seat majority in the Senate and pick up a few House seats. I mean clean sweep WINNING: A Biden/Harris blow out re-election win, a comfortable majority in the House, and half-dozen more seats in the Senate?
Fundraising that will yield enormous results in November.
Asking me 4 or 5 times a day whether I am voting for Biden, not Trump, will not help us win. Do you know how many of those emails/texts I have opened? Two! The hundreds more you sent I deleted unopened. What a waste of campaign effort?
How many more campaign dollars could you collect if every email/text you sent was opened? A simple modification will achieve those results while, at the same time, finding out what we, on the streets, suburbs, and in the countryside, really support. Instead of obsessively incessantly offering us a Biden poll, ask “Do you favor taxing the rich?” In the next email ask, “Is healthcare a right?” Then, “Should abortion be legal everywhere?” “Do you support unionization?” “Raise the minimum wage?” “LGBTQ+ rights?” “Should America remain a democracy?” “Is our economy working for you?” “Did the Infrastructure bill affect your community?” You have also not asked about gerrymandering, taking donations from corporations, trading stocks in Congress, Washington D.C. or Puerto Rican statehood, childcare, student loan forgiveness, or tuition free public college. This list is endless.
At your current fundraising pace send every Democrat and left leaning Independent at least two hundred differently titled emails/texts before a repeat. We will open all of them because, more than anything, we want you to know how to best represent us. Tallying the results will give you a real platform and effective talking points.
More than 40% of Americans are no longer registered Democrats or Republicans because both parties stopped listening to the people. We need you to hear us.
Speaking of talking points
While negotiating the budget, every hearing and budgetary press conference should feature these talking points.
1.The Republicans are not/cannot be serious about our debt/deficit if taxing the rich is not on the table.
2. If the Republicans want budget cuts, start by ending subsidies, tax loopholes, and tax credits for the wealthy and rich corporations.
Cuts to the IRS, CFPB, Medicare, or Social Security are not on the table. If they threaten to shut down the government, let them. Dare them to do so.
I have been a Democrat for more than 50 years. I know you Democrats in charge are shuffling around staring at your feet, running your fingers through your hair, mumbling, “What if we make a mistake? What if we lose?” There is no time for that nonsense.
Stop it.
The Republican Party is already doing everything in their power to hand us an election landslide by threatening to shut down the government, banning books (including the dictionary), arresting women for having miscarriages, balking at support for Ukraine… the list is extensive.
There are two issues that certainly garner more than 50% support among voters: legalized abortion and democracy in America. Spend more of our campaign war chest making sure the abortion question is on the ballot in all 34 Senate races, especially the toss-up states. Meanwhile, run TV and social media ads that embrace, “Voting for any Republican is voting for a national abortion ban.” and “A vote for any Republican, is a vote to end democracy in America.” If you cannot bring yourselves to adopt this ‘take no prisoners’ attitude, fix that by hiring those who have and do. Embrace the unthinkable: invite the Lincoln Project to craft your messaging.
Address immigration with action.
I do not agree with Governors Abbot and DeSantis sending migrants to cities run by Democrats. It has, however, brought attention to the crisis at our southern border. Unless we can magically end all global conflicts and human rights abuses, people arriving at the border will continue. All these negotiations and press conferences should include the labor shortage in America and what Republicans support: putting children to work and keeping all immigrants out. Citizenship for DACA should be in every negotiation. Do you want to blunt Republican immigration talking points? Publicly encourage every Democrat run city in America to take in as many immigrants as they can while negotiating for funds to make that possible.
We can have a substantial victory this November! We will have a substantial victory in November… if you stop worrying and start daring to act!
I sent this letter via snail mail to Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Jaime Harrison, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Henry Munoz III, Rep. Cedrick Richmond, Ken Martin, Virginia McGregor, Chris Korge, and Hillary Clinton. If you wish to send any a letter here is the address:
430 South Capitol Stret, Southeast
Washington, DC 20003
Follow me on Twitter: @40ford2
Subscribe to my blog: The View From Here
Follow my blog, The View From Here, on Instagram: @jthomascrowne
Buy eye catching political sweatshirts, tote bags, and magnets at: Blue Wave Politics
Follow my political merchandise on Instagram: @bluewavepolitic
Election 2024 is at hand
Last November I posted “The Visibility Initiative Project” that pointed out Hitler’s rise to power in Germany as the result of good people being silent and invisible. Since then, Donald Trump has threatened to corral immigrants in concentration camps like vermin and promised to be dictator on day one of a second term while denying he had read Mein Kampf, the source of these talking points.
As Trump supporters go about their daily lives, everywhere they look, they see only MAGA hats and shirts and yard signs. To them this confirms what they saw today on Fox News: They are the voting majority in the United States and election 2020 was stolen.
They are visible! Meanwhile, resistance to the rise of Hitlerian fascism in America remains invisible outside the media.
Democracy is on the Ballot…
A vote for any Republican is a vote for a Trump fascist government, a national abortion ban, and an end to progress on Climate Change. There will not be a box to select that says “democracy.” There will only be names of candidates and ballot initiatives. Choose wisely.
Being visible is a key part of not allowing us to slip into that authoritarian government. My site, BlueWavePolitcs, is one of a multitude of sites that can provide you with apparel and kitsch so you can be seen. Stand up. Stand out. Be visible.
New designs on my site can help you speak volumes without saying a word. In your everyday comings and goings people will notice and say they like your sweatshirt or tote bag. That idea will be planted. It will germinate and bear democratic fruit for the coming election!
Here are innovative designs that scream “democracy” now available on sweatshirts and tote bags:
There is a slim possibility that Democrats will make a clean sweep in November capturing both the Senate and House of Representatives… but not if we remain invisible!
If you have ideas for designs or would like to help with this project, contact me.
Kevin and the no good, very bad Republican Agenda (Part 2)
This is the third in a series of articles. In “Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans and the Debt Ceiling, Oh My!” I showed that Speaker McCarthy did not believe any of his rhetoric about the debt ceiling. “Kevin and the no good, very bad Republican Agenda (Part 1)”, revealed, by their actions, the Republican party caters to the desires of the rich to enable them to act with impunity without interference by government. There are two other ways in which Republicans act for us to examine.
Culture Wars
Unless you live in a cave… without Wi-Fi, you must be aware of America’s culture wars. Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis are in the news daily. Government, abortion, gun control, LGBTQ, library books, African American history, climate change. The Republicans have acted to pass numerous laws at the state level banning abortion, green energy, AP American history, and LGBTQ citizens in sports in many states recently. They have banned books in several states. Currently they are trying to muster the votes to pass a national abortion ban in the House of Representatives.
Who benefits from the culture wars?
I am sure some politicians and media celebrities are anti-abortion, against gun control, or think climate change is a hoax. But as we learned from the Fox News v Dominion lawsuit, what they say and what they genuinely believe are two different things. Look at what any Republican candidate said about Trump in 2015 compared to what they say today… 91 felony counts later.
Their current rhetoric is windsock morality designed specifically to gin their base audience into a frenzy daily. With each indictment Donald Trump goes up in the polls matched by increased donations for reelection. There is a similar reaction when any Republican politician mouths any culture war narrative from LGBTQ bathrooms to banning books by African American writers.
Since Republicans make up less than 30% of registered voters, this is a ploy by them and right-wing media outlets to turn out enough voters to be a political majority… where they will continue to serve, you guessed it, the rich.
Privatization
From the Great Depression through WWII until 1980 our American story had been President Roosevelt and Keynesian economics had saved us and initiated a wave of prosperity that created the largest middle class in the world. When Ronald Reagan became president, the narrative started to change. He once famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” His approach was that if a service isn’t used by every taxpayer, it isn’t a public good and should not be part of a government budget. It is something ‘customers’ who use the service should pay for. Therefore, it is something that can be done for profit.
Privatization is the process of selling government assets to for-profit businesses or contracting private enterprises to provide government services. Although Reagan was not as successful at privatizing the U.S. Government as Thatcher was in the UK, presidents who followed him embraced these policies.
The sales pitch for government privatization emphasizes shrinking the government and reducing spending. How successful is this?
Who benefits?
When assets are sold, like the Naval Petroleum Reserve, the government no longer has control over them. We now must pay whatever the owner demands to tap the reserve in an emergency such as spiraling gasoline prices. When services are contracted out the same is true. We no longer have control over the quality, amount, or price of those services or employees.
Under President Bush private enterprise began feeding and housing our military personnel. President Trump tried to privatize the Veterans Administration. His education secretary, Betsy DeVos, spearheaded the idea of school vouchers started by George W. Bush. These are the most prominent examples involving the federal government. There is a great deal more privatization at all levels of government.
Federal employees
Today, more than 40% of all federal ‘employees’ are supplied by private contractors. Some are direct hires, while most are provided by private companies. Microsoft, for instance, provides a substantial number of employees to our government. The average contract employee costs taxpayers 17% more than hiring a federal employee. Those 1,400,000 private contract employees are not part of the federal government. The government is technically smaller but more expensive… by $23Billion annually some of which is profit at taxpayer expense.
Military weaponry
Over the years the number of federal defense contractors consolidated down to only five major players. More than 50% of the entire $886Billion military budget for the coming year will go to private contractors. It is voluminously documented that they regularly overcharge for their wares reaping 40% to 50% in excessive profits. The annual cost is in the billions annually. Once again, private enterprise is being enriched while making government more expensive… and not any smaller.
Education
School vouchers nationally account for between $66B and $203Billion in education funding annually. Republicans present this as a program to improve educational opportunities for parents in underfunded school districts. Currently 15 states offer school vouchers. Of those nearly half have no qualifying income cap allowing wealthy parents to subsidize private education for their children at taxpayer expense. The number of states offering vouchers is expected to increase dramatically in the next few years.
In addition to vouchers Republicans support ‘education savings accounts’ to help taxpayers afford private and religious education. This exists in 8 states currently. The idea is that you save money toward your child’s private tuition and get an equal tax credit for that amount. Once again this allows wealthy parents to receive tax dollars for private schooling.
These are winning strategies for Republicans and the rich. Expenditures for vouchers and educational tax credits reduce the budget for public education. Republicans, then, declare that public education is failing. Government doesn’t work. We need more vouchers and tax credits.
With both Culture Wars and Privatization a few people are enriching themselves at taxpayer expense. The Republicans have made sure that almost none of those tax dollars come from the richest among us. Hence, the budget goes up and tax dollars go down. Budget crises ensue.
In the end we can trust the Kevin and the Republicans… to continue their No Good, Very Bad Agenda where the rich treat the U.S. Treasury as their own private piggy bank making them richer while the rest of us become peasants.
Kevin and the no good, very bad Republican agenda (part 1)
This is the second in a series of articles. In “Kevin McCarthy and Republicans and Debt Ceiling, Oh My!” it was clear that Kevin and the Republicans did not believe what they were telling the American people about budgetary restraint. If we look beneath their rhetoric, we will find what their real agenda is and who that agenda serves.
Taxes
Rather than let the debt-ceiling deal begin closing the gap between revenue and expenditures, McCarthy announced his intention to cut taxes. How is that fiscally responsible? Simply, it is not.
Historically Republicans seek to reduce taxes. George W. Bush cut taxes for the rich twice and added a tax rebate in 2008. Donald Trump ‘reformed’ the tax code making another windfall for the rich. Both presidents billed these cuts for the rich as the way to stimulate the economy that would pay for themselves. Together their cuts contributed $11Trillion to our $31T national debt. They did not pay for themselves.
Imagine receiving one of the above tax cuts for your widget manufacturing company that has already laid off half its employees because no one is buying your wares. Would you use that tax relief to re-hire workers to make more widgets that are already NOT selling? Of course not! Your furloughed employees will spend their tax relief on food, clothing, and housing, not widgets, further reducing demand for your products.
Since the lion’s share of tax cuts accrues to the top 5%, what do businesses, large corporations and the rich do with their tax rebates? One thing large corporations do with significant tax cuts is stock buybacks, something that was illegal until the Reagan administration. Buybacks cause the stock price to rise, thereby increasing their wealth and that of their rich shareholders.
Tax cuts for the rich and large corporations do not stimulate the economy. They ONLY make them richer and the poor more so, increasing the wealth gap in America.
Regulations
Cutting regulations has been a mantra of the Republican party for my entire adult life. Recently, Norfolk Southern lobbied the Trump administration to get reduced safety regulations. The wheel bearing failure that caused the derailment and subsequent disaster in East Palestine, Ohio is the product of those hamstrung regulations.
In fact, it is more profitable to ignore safety rules. Just as it is cheaper for a company to dump waste into the nearest river than to dispose of it properly, cheaper to spew air borne waste into the atmosphere, cheaper to use inexpensive nonfood fillers in our food. It is more profitable to build whatever you want, wherever you want than to go through an expensive approval process and follow building codes. It is more profitable to pay workers as little as possible, not offer health benefits, nor provide safe working conditions.
Cutting regulations increases profitability and mostly benefits the richest among us while endangering the lives of the rest of us.
Small Government
Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform once famously said: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”
What is so appealing about a smaller government? In the recent negotiations over the debt-ceiling Speaker Kevin McCarthy initially asked for a 22% across the board reduction in spending (not including the military). The bill specifically targeted an increase to the IRS budget from the Inflation Reduction Act passed by the Biden administration. Some of that IRS increase was meant to restore cuts by previous administrations. Most of it, however, was earmarked for collecting taxes from the rich.
Lopping 22% off federal funding would reduce the enforcement power of every regulatory agency, not just the IRS. If you cannot curtail or diminish regulations through legislation and lobbying, the second most effective means, achieving comparable results, is to make the rules impossible to implement by making government small enough to drown in a bathtub.
Slashing funding, in addition to crushing enforcement capabilities, reduces the effectiveness of our social safety net. This translates into less money available for unemployment insurance, SNAP benefits, Veterans benefits, Medicaid, child tax credits, school lunch programs, Pell grants, and other programs for the poorest among us.
In the end reducing the size of government becomes a downward spiral feeding on itself. Smaller government is less effective. Now Republicans can tout that our government is not working, therefore, more cuts should be made.
The difference between cutting regulations and reducing the size of government is that, by circumventing laws and regulations, one can be prosecuted for doing so… if only there were funds for that.
Smaller government benefits only the rich while forcing the poor further into poverty.
Kevin and the no good, very bad Republican agenda
Republicans, regardless of their rhetorical misrepresentation, enact tax cuts, eliminate regulations, and make government smaller to benefit the rich. They support the same actions at state and local levels, as well, to the same effect. The rest of us do not economically matter.
One more thing
The richest among us will support whatever form of government that best supports them whether it is a dictatorship or a democracy. If we are to continue our American experiment with Democracy, we must take our country back from the rich. We must force them into their proper place in a democracy: Serving the Common Good.
Electing Democrats is the only way forward for democracy. Show your ‘followers’ as you drive around your community where you stand. Put one of these on your car:
Kevin McCarthy and Republicans and the Debt Ceiling. Oh, My!
Kevin and the Republicans
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy continues to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage in exchange for federal budget cuts by the Biden Administration declaring that our deficits are too big, our national debt is going to burden our children and grandchildren, and adding the old saw that, if I/we ran my/our household budget(s) the way they run the government, I/we would go broke.
By their actions neither Kevin nor the Republican Party, now or ever, has believed any part of that position except that we individuals would go broke if we ran our households the way the government budget does. Republican administrations run budget deficits by spending money on the military, big business subsidies, and tax cuts for the rich, all of which run up the debt and cause inflation (Why do you think the stock market kept going up during Covid lockdown while the economy tanked? Stock price inflation). The national debt nearly tripled under Reagan and doubled again under George W. Bush. Since Reagan’s election, Republican administrations have accounted for 57% of our entire national debt that, already, encompassed debts from a civil war, two world wars, the conflict in Korea, and Vietnam War spending.
Kevin and Modern Monetary Theory
Republicans only complain, becoming self-righteously the party of fiscal responsibility, when Democrats run the government. By their actions, the Republican party practices and believes the tenets of a liberal/progressive economic theory: Modern Monetary Theory. MMT is a neo-Keynesian economic theory that has it roots in the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, a British economist whose economic ideas were used during the Great Depression in the New Deal by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration. Simply stated: “MMT asserts that monetarily sovereign countries which spend, tax, and borrow in a fiat currency that they fully control, are not operationally constrained by revenues when it comes to federal government spending.” (Modern Monetary Theory: [MMT]: Definition, History, and Principles)
In other words, if you can print acceptable currency in your basement, you cannot go broke or go catastrophically into debt. This is exactly how the Republican Party treats federal spending when they control the government.
Kevin and the Debt Ceiling
Hence, the Speaker’s rhetoric on government spending is empty and meaningless. This is nothing more than a hostage situation. If we do not pay the ransom (make the cuts), they promise to kill the hostage (the full faith and credit of the United States).
When the government is no longer contractually able to pay its bills (in default), the federal government will shut down. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, tax returns, and student loan payments stop. Military personnel will not be paid. SNAP benefits will end. Pell Grant installments will not go out. The CDC, NIH, National Parks, National Museums, passport offices and most other government offices will close. Most government employees, not just nonessential ones, will be furloughed without pay (the government is the single largest employer in the country). Interest rates will spike. Steep inflation will hit fast. It will damage our credit standing around the world. It will weaken foreign faith in the value of the U.S. dollar. If they hold out for only a few days, it may throw our economy into a deep recession.
Kevin and H.R. 2617
If his goal really is not about ‘fiscal responsibility’, then, what does Kevin hope to achieve by kidnapping our credit standing? If we look at HR 2617, the debt ceiling bill just passed in the House of Representatives, it will give us a clue to the Republican agenda.
If we make this deal with the devil as it stands now, it will mean steep cuts in social programs (veteran programs by 22%), tougher work requirements for SNAP benefits and other government aid, a roll back on climate change initiatives, no student debt relief, cutting the newly raised IRS enforcement budget to catch rich tax cheats, limit rural America getting broadband, cut payments to farmers for disasters and supports for rural tenants, and more. It would roll back spending to 2022 levels and cap spending increases to 1% per year for the next decade. Two-thirds of the bill is dedicated to ramping up oil and gas production.
In other words, it is pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps for the poor and welfare for the rich and big corporations with an enormous shout out to the oil and coal barons, two of the many patron saints of the Republican Party. Regardless of their claim to be the party of ‘working people’, consistently, they support only what is good for the richest among us. H.R. 2617 is perfectly in line with their true aims.
Kevin and Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
President Biden should treat this situation like any other hostage situation… and not pay the ransom. Do not give an inch. Do not make budget cuts. Do not negotiate.
After all, Republican government shutdowns have worked so well in the past. Their shutdown under Clinton only helped his reelection. The one to stop the Affordable Care Act under Obama failed spectacularly. Plus, two more shutdowns to build Trump’s wall in 2018/19, not only failed to get the wall built, but ensured Trump’s election loss in 2020.
The longer the shutdown, the closer we will get to Election 2024, the steeper the electoral price will be, the clearer it will be in a vast majority of voters’ minds who should be in charge after the election: Democrats.
We are calling your bluff, Kevin! Shut the whole place down!
We, the Unchosen
We did not grow up to be the President. We did not become pro sports legends, movie stars or astronauts. We have not won Nobel Prizes. Those dreams of greatness faded with adulthood and responsibilities. We chose families and the work-a-day life. We are the Unchosen. We are America.
My father belonged to the Greatest Generation, the one that saved the world from totalitarian rule by defeating Hitler and the Nazis. World War II claimed the lives of 419,000 Americans (60 million worldwide). All but a sliver of those were also Unchosen.
The perilous threats we face today overshadow those of my father’s generation. The global cost of worsening Climate Change, in lives and property, continues to mount. American oligarchs like Charles Koch are lining the pockets of Trump Republicans to make certain their income streams are uninterrupted by mitigation measures. Other oligarchs, likewise, make similar investments to avoid being taxed, thereby, assuring government coffers are too empty to take effective action on this extinction level event that is climate change.
The conservative U.S. Supreme Court, having diminished women’s control over their own bodies, blunted government efforts to allay our climate crisis, reduced efforts to control deadly weapons, and opened a breach in the wall between church and state, are prepared to vacate rights to contraception and same sex marriage, while allowing wholesale discrimination against certain minorities.
A re-elected Trump would hold Putin and Xi in such high esteem that, one could easily imagine him ceding Ukraine to the Russians and gifting Taiwan to China in exchange for one-third of the world pie, the triumvirate of nuclear nations, crushing democracies and ousting tinhorn dictators around the world along the way.
In November of 2020, we, the Unchosen, manned the polling ramparts and turned out in record numbers to fight for our seat at the table. We carried the day and took our seat.
Again, the forces of darkness are amassing for the next battle, armed with legalities and loopholes meant to strike down as many of our voting numbers as possible, while scaring up more opposing voters with inflation, immigration, and socialism.
Whenever Trump endorsed candidates declare that the 2020 election was stolen, they are not promoting the Big Lie. They are sounding a dog whistle to publicly acknowledge their ongoing seditious conspiracy and commit to installing Trump or a protégé as President following election 2024, by whatever means necessary. If his candidates are elected this November, they will be poised to install their candidate regardless of the outcome at the polls. If they succeed, 2024 will be the last free election in America.
We must defeat them all, even if it means escalating the civil war that may have already begun.
If we are victorious in this November’s election, we will further advance the transformation that will save us all. If we persist, triumph after triumph in election after election, through the darkness in the decades to come, we will reach the dawn of that better day, a democratic America, having averted the climate catastrophe. We, the Unchosen, will be hailed as the Greatest Generations to have ever lived.
If we fail, there will be no one left alive to notice.
We, the Unchosen, are the only heroes we have. We the are the heroes we need! You may not be a Democrat. You may not like what the Democrats stand for, but this November, they, alone, stand between us and the abyss. Choose wisely.
Vote!