[Dialogue] Emailing: Vicious Ideologue Renews Attack on Social Security - CommonDreams.org.htm
Harry Wainwright
h-wainwright at charter.net
Tue Jul 22 21:37:49 EDT 2008
<http://www.commondreams.org/> Common Dreams NewsCenter
<http://www.commondreams.org/donate071708.htm> Summer Reading
Home <http://www.commondreams.org/> | Newswire
<http://www.commondreams.org/newswire.htm> | Contacting Us
<http://www.commondreams.org/contactingus.htm> | About Us
<http://www.commondreams.org/about.htm> | Donate
<https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1493/t/105/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_K
EY=1869> | Sign-Up
<http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1493/t/24/signUp.jsp?key=1439> |
Archives <http://www.commondreams.org/archives.htm>
Discuss this story
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/themes/common-dreams/images/
icon_comment.gif> Discuss this story <> Print This Post
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/plugins/print/images/print.g
if> Print This Post
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/22/10523/print/>
<http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp>
<http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp> E-Mail This Article
Published on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
<http://www.commondreams.org>
Vicious Ideologue Renews Attack on Social Security
by Dean Baker
Billionaire investment banker Peter Peterson is back on the warpath. He just
established a new foundation with a $1 billion endowment, the main purpose
of which is to cut back spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
These programs, which provide an essential safety net to virtually the
entire country, are hugely popular and will be politically difficult to cut.
Nonetheless, $1 billion is a lot of money. Therefore, Peterson's campaign
deserves to be taken seriously.
Peterson has long been an ardent foe of these programs. He first rose to
national prominence as commerce secretary in the Nixon administration. He
then returned to the private sector and became a partner in the Blackstone
Group, a very successful private equity fund.
Mr. Peterson is fond of telling his audiences that he doesn't need his
Social Security. Of course, as a manager in a private equity fund, Mr.
Peterson was allowed to take advantage of the fund manager tax subsidy - a
provision of the tax code that allows some of the richest people in the
country to pay much lower tax rates than ordinary workers.
With his enormous wealth, Mr. Peterson was probably given more than 1,000
times as much money through this tax subsidy as the typical worker can
expect to see on her Social Security. Needless to say, if the rest of us had
been beneficiaries of the government's largesse to the same extent as Mr.
Peterson, we would not need our Social Security either.
Mr. Peterson's public crusading against Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid began in 1992 when he formed the Concord Coalition. This
organization crusades for cuts in these programs under the pretext of fiscal
responsibility.
Mr. Peterson has also written several books calling for cuts in these
programs with ominous titles like "Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Wave Will
Transform America," which warns that the country will be bankrupted by the
retirement of the baby boomers. He uses his power and wealth to publicize
these diatribes and get them reviewed in top outlets, such as the New York
Times Book Review.
While Peterson's efforts appeal largely to Republicans, he generally pulls
enough Democrats on board that he can pass off his attacks on the country's
key social programs as bipartisan. In fact, the media often treat Peterson's
assault on the social safety net as being above the political fray, allowing
him to spout his views unanswered on major national talk shows.
Peterson has not been shy about using slippery logic to advance his agenda.
For example, back in the 90's he argued for cutting the annual
cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security, which is tied to the consumer
price index (CPI), based on the claim that the CPI substantially overstates
the true rate of inflation. If Peterson's claim about a CPI overstatement
were true, then it would imply that incomes are rising far more rapidly than
our projections show. Peterson's CPI adjustment would mean that our children
and grandchildren will be far richer than we could possibly imagine, because
incomes are rising so rapidly. Similarly, the retirees for whom he wanted to
cut benefits actually spent much of their lives in poverty. If incomes have
been rising more rapidly than the official data show, then we must have been
far poorer in the past than the data show.
In the same vein, Peterson supported the partial privatization of Social
Security, based on assumptions on stock returns that were inconsistent with
the profit growth projections of the Social Security trustees, and the
price-to-earnings ratios that existed in the stock market at the time
<http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/ss_economist_test.htm> . In the
push to cut Social Security and Medicare, Peterson does not feel the need to
be bound by the truths of logic and arithmetic.
There is a fundamental point on which Peterson is correct. The long-term
budget projections do show a horror story of enormous deficits. But these
projections are not driven by aging and overly generous retirement programs.
They are driven by projections that our private health care system, which
already costs twice as much per person as the average for other rich
countries, will get ever more inefficient through time. If we never fix our
health care system, then we will face an economic disaster, which will
include serious budget problems, since half of our health care is paid for
through government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
This reality would suggest the importance of reforming the health care
system. Health care reform would mean confronting the insurance and
pharmaceutical industries, as well as the doctors' lobbies. These groups
have serious power. That's why Mr. Peterson prefers to stick with granny
bashing.
Dean Baker <mailto:cepr at cepr.net> is the co-director of the Center for
Economic and Policy Research <http://www.cepr.net/> (CEPR). He is the
author of "The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government
to Stay Rich and Get Richer" (www.conservativenannystate.org
<http://www.conservativenannystate.org/> ). He also has a blog, "Beat the
Press," where he discusses the media's coverage of economic issues.
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and
discover new web pages.
*
<http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Farch
ive%2F2008%2F07%2F22%2F10523%2F&title=Vicious+Ideologue+Renews+Attack+on+Soc
ial+Security> Digg
*
<http://del.icio.us/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Farchive%2F2
008%2F07%2F22%2F10523%2F&title=Vicious+Ideologue+Renews+Attack+on+Social+Sec
urity> del.icio.us
*
<http://www.newsvine.com/_tools/seed&save?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.or
g%2Farchive%2F2008%2F07%2F22%2F10523%2F&h=Vicious+Ideologue+Renews+Attack+on
+Social+Security> NewsVine
*
<http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Farchive%
2F2008%2F07%2F22%2F10523%2F> StumbleUpon
*
<http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.com
mondreams.org%2Farchive%2F2008%2F07%2F22%2F10523%2F&=Vicious+Ideologue+Renew
s+Attack+on+Social+Security> YahooMyWeb
*
<http://technorati.com/faves?add=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Farchive
%2F2008%2F07%2F22%2F10523%2F> Technorati
Discuss this story
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/themes/common-dreams/images/
icon_comment.gif> Discuss this story <> Print This Post
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/plugins/print/images/print.g
if> Print This Post
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/22/10523/print/>
<http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp>
<http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp> E-Mail This Article
43 Comments so far
1.
kivals <http://jmkivals.blogspot.com> July 22nd, 2008 12:26 pm
The poor did not bribe Congress to give them Medicare, Medicaid, and
Social Security, so of course these are illegitimate governmental programs.
The only legitimate governmental aid comes through proper bribery - the
Murkan Way!
2.
skippyagogo41 July 22nd, 2008 12:33 pm
Article doesn't mention the vast sum the yanks spend on the military
either. Wonder why the offence dept is so sacrosanct, especially as it's
such a socialist type of thing. Oh, right, I forgot how much profit they
make by selling weapon systems that will never be used, or if used prove not
to work.
3.
Daniel David July 22nd, 2008 12:51 pm
If (over the objections of most of the posters at CD) you can get
Obama and a Dem Congress elected, Peter Peterson ain't gonna matter at all.
Because Peter Peterson won't be writing legislation no matter how much money
he spends peddling lies. That's IF you ninnies stop griping and get Obama
elected.
4.
wilmoor July 22nd, 2008 12:55 pm
I wonder why mr. peterson doesn't just advocate for death when a
person reaches sixty, putting an end to the need for having to pay out
social security.
Oh, of course. That would include his miserable ass too.
5.
luckylefty July 22nd, 2008 12:58 pm
With a cool Billion$$ - you should just about be able to buy America
now, couldn't you? But then I forget about he collapsing dollar. The billion
is probably only worth a couple of hundred grand now.
6.
wilmoor July 22nd, 2008 1:04 pm
When I was growing up, the Poor Farms were still around. We passed
one of them everytime we drove to town, and because my parents pointed it
out to us and told us what they were, I grew up with a deep fear of one day
ending up there.
I'd be worried again, the way this country is going, but thankfully
won't be around too many more years to see it come to pass. I really don't
want to live in a world of WalMarts, prisons, poor farms and human beings
who've been turned into sewer rats by those who've stripped us of
everything, including our humanity, in order to line their own pockets.
7.
Frank Lieb July 22nd, 2008 1:10 pm
Another form of Genocide!
8.
generallee July 22nd, 2008 1:16 pm
Peterson must have a eugenics agenda. Starting with the most
vulnerable and working his way up to the others he deems unworthy of living.
9.
annabelle July 22nd, 2008 1:19 pm
I love it when the ones (at the top) screech "Socialism" when it
comes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I don't suppose that
bailing out the banks and mortgage companies with taxpayer funds is in any
form of Socialism.
It appears that these companies knowingly screw the public and when it all
goes south they have to be propped back up with money that taxpayers will
provice in the future. Looks like a win win situation to me. With
unemployment on the rise in their manipulated economy it will be difficult
for more and more people to build up much of a reserve in their "Social"
security benefits. Why would anyone want to use any part of their income to
support something that is pretty apt to fail by the time they retire. How
many retirement funds have already been wiped out in the last few years? I
guess 'Socialism' for the haves means anything that helps out the have nots,
not for anything that helps them to hang on to what they already have, plus
more.
10.
Timeleus July 22nd, 2008 1:34 pm
soylent green is people
11.
kivals <http://jmkivals.blogspot.com> July 22nd, 2008 1:40 pm
Timelus,
I was thinking the same thing. And wilmoor at 1:04 pm appeared to be
on that same track. I just saw that movie a couple of days ago and I was
shocked that it seems more believable now than it did when it first came
out.
12.
wobblie July 22nd, 2008 1:42 pm
Obama supports the rape of social security funds.
He protects the insurance scam in health care.
He wants to increase the military (troop level), wants to expand the
war in Afgahnistan, while cosmetically reducing American presence in Iraq.
VOTE NADER 08
13.
Spike July 22nd, 2008 1:44 pm
wilmor: it is the sewer rats that have wrecked everything so far.
Poor folks are too busy trying to eat regularly to be doing much else.
This guy Petersen; after having sucked on the government teat for
far too long now wants to go mucking about in the social engineering game
pit. He needs to get a life.
14.
wcdevins July 22nd, 2008 2:02 pm
Conservatives never have and never will do anything that doesn't
benefit them personally. No Republican is worth a shit.
15.
Poet July 22nd, 2008 2:15 pm
What a perfect title to describe such a miserable crumb! It would
also work for those behind AEI. the Heritage Foundation, and the Cato
Institute. Their collective motto seems to be "hooray for me and to hell
with everybody else".
By the way, there is a dandy and easy way to fund social security
for the ihdefinate future: tax all capital gains as income, especially the
value appreciation of non-homestead real estate.
Instantly the treasury would be hundreds of bilions of dollars
richer and trhe soaring cost of real estate (and the inflation of currency
value to worthlessness would diminish rapidly.
16.
Daniel David July 22nd, 2008 2:35 pm
Poet makes a good point. The conservatives say that taxing capital
gains is bad. I think they have it exactly backwards. Cap gains taxes not
only raise revenue to get the government out of such a deep hole, they also
tend to prevent speculative bubbles.
We ought to be incentivizing LESS trading for the sake of trading,
not more. In other words "Flip this House" was about as big a national error
as the Iraq war in terms of damage done to the country. So was "flip the
tech stocks" a few years ago. So is "flip oil and commodities" at present.
17.
GwNorth July 22nd, 2008 3:04 pm
I once read an article on the plight of women who come from third
world countries to Canada as immigrants. Generally their husbands have jobs,
but many of these women are isolated and suicidal. They don't know their
neighbours. They feel no sense of community.
One of the things they all mentioned was how , while iving in
Villages where everyone was poor, the people would look out for one anothers
children.
The people grew up with the attitude that the children were a common
resource of all in the village, and not a personal and private possession
that should excel over all others.
If everyones children prospered, so too would the Village.
Very much the same is true in Aboriginal communities. The society is
responsible for the well being of all children, not just their own.
America seems the leading edge of where that all leads. It the
society that all but worships he concept of self reliance and rugged
individualism.
Everyone is asked to compete with one another, so that the cream
rises to the top, and more often then not one person prospering is at the
cost of another suffering.
There are those that claim the breakdown in community is due to
"Moral Values" being lost, the breakdown of the family, or homosexual
marriages.
I suggest it the ME ism taken too far, to the point where the sense
of community crumbles because there is no true COMMUNITY.
People lock themselves behind gated neighborhood, isolating
themselves from one another.
"I got mine..I dont want to share it with anyone.you can all bugger
off. If I did it, you can do it."
What amazes me the most is that The Middle Class in America has
taken to blaming their eroding Standard of living on the poor, the illegal
immigrant and the like.
The logic of it evades me. The lattter live in the most run down
neighborhoods and have next to nothing yet people believe that thise in
poverty are somehow stealing from the hard working middle class.
Yet at the same time a gug Like John Mccain, who owns 10 homes of
over a million dollars each , runs for President and calls social security
an absolute scandal.
If an alien came to America and was asked with who was hogging all
the wealth and makeing everyone else in that society poorer, he would not
single out the peoples living in the Ghetto or sleeping in the streets.
The elite in America have done a bang up job of salemanship.
PK
18.
overkill July 22nd, 2008 3:07 pm
Billionaire investment banker Peter Peterson is back on the warpath.
Perhaps some retiree with a rusty pocketknife will hand him his head.
Then Congress can add his $1 billion endowment to Social Security. Or else.
19.
ubrew12 July 22nd, 2008 3:11 pm
I read Pete Peterson's book 'Running on Empty' and found it valuable
reading about the national debt. He seemed reluctant to excoriate
Republicans for this monstrous debt, but he generally put blame where it
belonged (another great book about debt is 'Empire of Debt' by Bonner and
Wiggins).
Peterson seemed, in his last chapter, genuinely aghast at what
Reagonomics had wrought regarding the enslavement of future generations by
debt. He all but apologizes for being a part of it. And, yes, he calls for
attention to be paid, and soon, to the approaching juggernauts of SocSec and
Medicare/Medicaid. Of the two, BY FAR the worst is Medicare/Medicaid, and as
this author Baker relates, reform of our bizarre health care system could go
a long way toward addressing that problem.
Solve Medicare/Medicaid and it seems the SocSec shortfall can be
resolved without too much trouble. Any way you slice it, however, thanks to
the enormous national debt, the term 'Generation Debt' to describe todays
twenty-somethings is accurate, and will be for about 30 years.
20.
rtdrury July 22nd, 2008 3:13 pm
The amazing thing is that conservatives have so far not infiltrated
the social programs to plunder them. Apparently the beneficiaries have
trained their Demok reps as highly effective guard dogs. Just think what
these beneficiaries could accomplish by employing their magical power over
Washington to end war profiteering, fossil fuel gluttony, war on democracy,
and the rule of capital over people, generally. Unfortunately the social
program beneficiaries do not seem to be motivated by civic responsibility,
but rather by fear of drowning in the capitalist cesspool. So what are these
guard dogs really guarding?
21.
Brian Brademeyer July 22nd, 2008 3:24 pm
No one can come by a billion dollars honestly.
22.
Rockerbabe1 July 22nd, 2008 3:37 pm
I have had a job since I was 14 and I have paid into the Social
Security Program since then. I will be eligible for full SS benefits at 67;
that means I have worked 53 years for that small check! I have had a pension
in the past, but due to corporate restructuring, etc, that was paid out at
the NPV and then rolled over into a 401K. We all know what has happened to
market based 401K in the past. I have to have company medical insurance as I
cannot get an affordable individual policy on my own due to past medical
history. So where does this overpaid, greedy, hateful man think I am going
to go? Or does he think, he is the only one entitled to have a decent
retirement? How about just getting to see a doctor without taking a mortgage
out on your home? People like Peterson haven't a clue and seek to make the
lives of everyone not like him miserable. I agree with the Brian Brademeyer,
I don't think anyone can come by a billion dollars honestly. Tell Peterson
to go f@#$ himself and leave the rest of us alone.
23.
jjpeter July 22nd, 2008 4:00 pm
Another "let them eat cake" republican.
Their gated communities will be no refuge from thousands of
starving, desperate people, and they will face our wrath soon enough.
Once the planet is rid of the scourge of the BABY BOOMERS, there
will be a huge sigh of relief. And that included me.
24.
gus July 22nd, 2008 4:10 pm
When Socical Security was "rescued" in the '80's by Alan Greenspan,
it was by the imposition of a draconian and regressive earnings tax on
earned income up to $90,000, which exempted the top 2% from paying social
security taxes on much of their income. Fast forward to 2001, when
overwhelming social security tax collections "threatened" a budget surplus.
There is Alan Greenspan, standing by George W. Bush, proclaiming that the
excess revenue from the draconian and regressive social security tax would
cause chaos in the government debt markets. He said this would endanger our
economy, and that there was a need for tax custs that, coincidentally, were
like the ones George W. Bush advocated. Even though Bush lied about who
would receive the cuts, most of it went to the 2% of high-income taxpayers
who escaped paying most of their social security tax obligation in the first
place.
Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.
25.
Thomas More July 22nd, 2008 4:25 pm
skippyagogo41 July 22nd, 2008 12:33 pm
I have nothing intelligent to add to whats been said. My reason for
posting the above is so skippyagogo41 can twice in one month kinda, sorta
agree with me. Doesn't happen a lot you know.
26.
John F. Butterfield <http://www.JohnFButterfield.com> July 22nd,
2008 4:26 pm
Why Peter Peterson isn't afraid of us and why he thinks he can get a
big return for his endowment might be summed up in the words Jay Gould
uttered when he was asked if he feared unions.
"I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half,"
Jay Gould.
U.S. financier & railroad businessman (1836 - 1892)
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/33148.html
27.
Doom n Gloom July 22nd, 2008 4:32 pm
generallee July 22nd, 2008 1:16 pm
"Peterson must have a eugenics agenda. Starting with the most vulnerable and
working his way up to the others he deems unworthy of living."
I would bet on it generallee. It has only been about forty years
since the last eugenics movement ended, and since then the Congress has
legislated wealth to the top. It will only get worse now that the wealthy
have realized that there is no punishment for them in America, thanks to
George Bush and Nancy Pelosi.
28.
Bane Richter July 22nd, 2008 4:42 pm
Another greasy casino owner bullies into the gossip column with a
grotesque display.
Again, a so called visionary a-hole who half owns the game he's already
rigged, touts the profitability of slow-warfare on the lower classes. The
lies are powerful, housewives can't resist, after all the Suze Orman and
Oprah they've been softened up with. The ferocity of the continuing facist
plunder of our quality of life goes on unabated, yet gives pause; How long
are people simply going to tolerate illegitimate royalty?
29.
grigor <http://commondreams.org> July 22nd, 2008 5:01 pm
Here's some eugenics for you, folks. This fascist with the name
"Peterson" was born into a Greek family, certainly not named Peterson. He
grabbed that name due to his craving to become a parasitic GOP lackey. Bugs
me cuz I'm an old Greek.
30.
bbr-001 July 22nd, 2008 5:09 pm
We can't let social security be privatized. It will be deregulated
and handled by the same "heads I win, tails you lose" financial gambler
types that have screwed up everything else over the past 30 years.
31.
TAR804 July 22nd, 2008 5:20 pm
We need a SOAK THE RICH tax system so we can fix all the problems
this SOB points to with HIS money.
Nader has a plan to tax the Securities and Exchange Commission
activities and do away with income tax. Sounds like a good start.
A note to Daniel David and other ObamaBots, if you think Obama can't
be bought, you haven't been listening!
After FISA, I'm sorry but I can't vote for him.
32.
Nietzsche July 22nd, 2008 5:24 pm
GwNorth, Good post. All adults are the parents of all children.
Socialism does not only involve economic fairness, It fosters thinking in
terms of 'WE' instead of 'I'.
Self made people are illusions. All of us owe everyone else for
everything we have or don't have. If everyone has enough, it reflects well
on everyone. If some are obscenely rich and others are dirt poor, never
doubt that somebody has stolen from somebody else.
They don't try to hide their dishonesty. 'Nothing personal' they
say, 'It was business'. And a phenomenal number of poor people seem to
accept such nonsense as being logical.
'Gee, if he is rich he must know what he is talking about'. History
sadly shows we accept such drivel until our empty bellies overrule our empty
heads and wholesale slaughter ensues.
33.
jjpeter July 22nd, 2008 5:55 pm
Yet another "I got mine, you don't deserve yours" republican.
These greedy assholes fear the govt coming for THEIR money to help
the unruly rabble. To them, what is money, but something to hoard, selfishly
covet and hold onto, for the fear that someone, somewhere who is
"undeserving" would find a little joy in this world and not die wondering if
their children will survive.
I begrudge no one who comes to their wealth through offering the
world a better mouse trap, or a well written book. The source of creation is
available to us all, and money is simply a form of energy, a reward for
putting out the energy in the first place.
That there exists, still, the draconian mentality that predates our
nations founding, where Royalty somehow had a birthright to all the wealth,
and the rest - well, be glad you have some straw to sleep on, says that we
haven't won our freedom yet.
Our Revolution was fought to throw off the yoke of British tyranny,
and IT encouraged the overthrow of all despotic monarchs.
If the American's have to fight another revolution to gain their
rights again against the tyranny of the republican's, then so be it.
"Give me liberty, or give me death"
34.
dubet July 22nd, 2008 6:30 pm
certainly, the thin layer of shinola they've caressed into the
crevices of the turd they call the 'privatization' of social security is
losing more and more of it's small amount of lustre every day as the
american market and economy swirl faster and faster around the toilet bowl,
saying hello-and-goodbye many, many times before finally whirlpooling and
heading irreversibly down that dark hole (where does my feces and urine go,
anyway?).wouldn't it be great to be a high-up in a bank\mortgage
house\brokerage?
35.
Araquin July 22nd, 2008 6:48 pm
That's the way the rich in the Third World would argue.
But if one taxes the rich like a Third World country, i.e. hardly at
all, if one (i.e a major part of the American population) does not believe
that the role of a state is, among other things, a redistribution of wealth
via taxes, then one gets these Third World-like oligarchs as a self-produced
result who think that their money can buy a change in politics.
A system that keeps proving that triple-digit million expenses for
political campaigns are indeed able to buy political power is only
harvesting what it's been sowing.
A system which - contrary to European democracies - excludes
non-millionaires from high political offices has been asking for this public
exhibition of brain-dieting by Peter Peterson.
Where his ancestors seem to hail from, i.e. Scandinavia, he'd be
socially ostracized for such statements, BTW. His only choice would be to
leave country (in his case possibly Sweden), that Petersson.
But then again, he would never have become that rich in Sweden - see
"taxes as a redistribution of wealth".
36.
Golddogs July 22nd, 2008 7:05 pm
Social security may not have been needed in times of family farms,
where 3 generations or more fed and cared for each other. Most of those
farms are gone as is the multi generational close knit family.
What they really want is for anyone with an IQ of 150 or less to
die. After they are gone the IQ to live factor will be raised. Type A's will
be given tax breaks. After generations of this there will brilliant people
frothing at the mouth killing each other in violent fits of rage over tee
times and prime Big Gamefishing grounds etc. that the "little people" used
to occupy.
37.
opeluboy July 22nd, 2008 7:15 pm
Seems to me that spending 10 billion per month in Iraq might have
something to do with our lack of funds.
38.
fakedemocracy July 22nd, 2008 8:44 pm
As you can see in our marvelous capitalist model, money trickles up,
not down.
Meanwhile across the pond. civilized countries have good standards
of living for all their citizens. If you want to attend a university and
educate yourself, it's free. If you want to save up your vacation time and
take it all at once- you'll have 4-6weeks of paid vacation. If you or your
spouse has a baby, both of you can take 1 year off work (paid) to raise your
baby. When you're done with that year. and if you work at a moderate sized
company- then you can bring your child to the daycare facilities provided to
you at your place of work so you can still be close to the young ones. If
you or your loved one has a medical problem- go see a doctor. It's free.
You're not going to lose your house paying medical bills- no matter what
ails you.
Yeah, you will have to pay higher taxes to live in an affluent
society like this. But isn't it worth it? Compared to the American race to
the bottom. poverty around every corner. mega-franchises stomping out the
mom and pop american dream. working gruelling overtime because Chairman
Crunk tells you to.. or else he'll outsource your entire existence.
39.
MiMiCcS July 22nd, 2008 8:54 pm
Here is a radical idea. Before you can understand it, you must know
something about money.
First of all, in the US there is only 300 billion dollars in printed
money (there is another 500 billion overseas). One thousand dollars for each
man, woman and child in the US (don't rush to get your money out all at once
now). The other 15 trillion exists on a hard disk or ledgers.
We have a fiat money system, which means an infinite amount of money
can be created on a ledger, constrained only by Fed policy. It is not backed
by any tangible asset like gold, oil, whatever. Thats not necessarily a
problem, since money is simply a medium of exchange.
It is also a fractional reserve system, whereby only 3% of our
current money supply is actually held by reserves. Infinity times 33.
Beautiful.
Thats not necessarily a problem either, at least not directly.
Money under the Federal Reserve System is created out of thin air,
in order to purchase Treasuries from the US or to make loans for mortgages,
credit card debt etc. It does not exist until someone borrows it. Wipe out
all debt, and our money supply is 0. This is the problem. Government has no
say on what the money being created should be used for.
The Treasuries are the government debt which pays interest.
Mortgages, credit card debt etc are private debt also pay interest at much
higher rates.
Government debt does not need to be repaid, they just take out new
loans to pay those loans that come due. Only the interest gets paid, so the
debt always increases. To ensure the government has money to pay the
interest, the income tax was required.
You see, while the system creates money for the principal, it does
not create the money for the interest. An impossible contract, no?
While private debt must be repaid in full, it is asset backed
(meaning if you do not pay it you lose your house or other property like
your car). Since money is not created for the interest, the system works on
defaults.
In return for money created out of thin air, meaning it is without
consideration and an invalid contract, an increasing amount of tangible
assets get transferred to the banks via defaults. Beautiful system. Profit
by foreclosure and credit card defaults.
In the late 70's, the Federal Reserve Banks were required to return
the interest they received on treasuries they purchased, less costs. Don't
feel bad for them, since they are owned by the commercial banks which make
most of our money and they earn enormous profits, at least the big ones. And
whenever there are bank failures, the big banks get bigger. If a big bank
fails, it gets bailed out. So we have moral hazard, the big banks have
nothing to fear, and profit from each financial crisis (sure they take a
couple of years losses in return for higher profits for the next 15 years).
But since the Federal Reserve banks could not profit from buying
treasuries, we had to find others to do so. Today, we have 20 or so primary
dealers used by the Fed made up of big financial firms, not necessarily
commercial banks, and they buy the treasuries and earn the interest. But the
primary dealers can not create money, they were not commercial banks, they
were investment banks, separated from the commercial banking by the Glass
Steagall Act (which was repealed in 1999 and helped fuel the sub-prime
explosion). Of course, the shareholders who owned the Fed and commercial
banks, also owned the financial firms investment banks. A close knit family.
So our own central bank, the Fed, has little interest in buying our
treasuries, as there is little profit there. In order to facilitate money
growth and the growing governmnet debt, we needed other countries central
banks to take over for the Fed. China for example helps out. We send dollars
to Chinas manufacturers who sold us manufactured goods. The manufacturers
need RMB to pay for local expenses and investment so the governments central
bank creates the RMB out of thin air, and gets the manufacturers dollars
that accumulate in their reserves. Thus they are able to buy US treasuries
by creating RMB out of thin air, and we get our dollars back. Beautiful huh.
The money we spent for our clothes gets sent back to our government by
China, but it works for China too since it allows China to create the money
that is growing it's "real" economy.
But instead of owing money to the Fed, which returns the interest,
we get to owe the money to China, which wants it's interest, and has the
right to ask for the principal back. Today, about 3.5 trillion dollars of
our debt are owned to foreign central banks in which we pay interest.
Theoretically, if the foreign central banks called in their loans, the Fed
could jump in and take up the slack. Theoretically.
Now, the only way this ridiculous system has not fallen like a house
of cards is because interest rates have been kept low, and inflation figures
have been understated which means people are paying a hidden tax to fund the
government debts interest payments, as well as the income tax. If interest
rates should be increased to stamp out inflation driven by higher oil prices
and cartel pricing practices (and interest rates would have no impact on
prices increasing for this reason), the USD is dead, and we become a debt
slave to the IMF who will demand we get rid of medicare, medicaid and social
security, and much much more. The IMF will audit the Fed next year. Congress
has never been allowed to perform a complete audit on the Fed.
It seems pretty hopeless. Under the current system, it is.
Now you are ready for the idea that has caused the death of at least
2 Presidents, Lincoln and JFK.
One point needs to be made first. The Federal Reserve System hates
to create money for infrastructure development and social welfare
expenditures, since these are not profitable. So they get funded entirely by
taxes. Remember I told you that the Fed being giving a monopoly of
determining where the money being created goes is the problem.
The idea is this. The government can create it's own interest free
money. It can loan the money to corporations at low interest for
infrastructure projects like solar power plants, high speed electric train
systems, earning income once the projects are complete and generating
revenue, and it pays it out to meet our current obligations under social
security, medicare, medicaid, and perhaps even a national health care
system. Simple, huh.
We obviously will need to borrow less money from foreign central
banks, and as long as they need dollars to buy oil, thats not a problem.
Of course, the international bankers who run the current system
would immediately attack the currency and turn us into Zimbabwe, using
financial terrorism. These are the guys who should be treated as enemy
combatents and sent to Gitmo.
40.
Habitat Vic July 22nd, 2008 9:07 pm
Araquin,
As mentioned earlier, "Peterson" is not his original name. His
father was a Greek immigrant (starting as a dishwasher) named Petropoulos.
On the one hand I give him credit for achieving success on his own (he was
CEO of Bell & Howell in the 60's). On the other hand .. what a sellout to
his working-class roots. link:
http://www.cityfile.com/profiles/pete-peterson
An if that wasn't enough, Peterson is yet another "Chicago School"
Milton-Friedman-follower. Probably an Ayn Rand accolyte, too. A proponent of
the (actual) Republican mantra: "fuck everyone but me."
41.
smendler July 22nd, 2008 9:19 pm
Thanks for the primer, MiMiCcS - very interesting! Here's my
question: is it possible to bring the System down in a "controlled
demolition" kinda way while we bring up alternative institutions - or do we
have to wait for it to collapse of its own weight - or do we knock it over
with a bulldozer? I prefer the first option myself.
42.
ezeflyer July 22nd, 2008 9:23 pm
"An oligarchy of private capital cannot be effectively checked even
by a democratically organized political society because under existing
conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly,
the main sources of information."
- Albert Einstein
"Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the
result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, despotism
will come from either of those excesses."
- Aristotle
"How to join the oligarchy:
All you have to do to join up, to become a 'fellow traveler' of the
Oligarchy is to follow the Party Line - absolve yourself and all others of
the mob of any responsibility. Voting Republican is a simple means, but
mindless voting any other party ticket is hardly a radical act. Not voting
at all is even worse: that is simply abject surrender to the Oligarchy."
http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay42.htm
43.
WASHINGTON July 22nd, 2008 9:27 pm
Bad parenting.this guy should have been aborted..he's a sick freak!
Join the discussion:
You must be
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-login.php?redirect_to=http://www.com
mondreams.org/archive/2008/07/22/10523/> logged in to post a comment. If you
haven't registered yet, click
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-register.php> here to register.
(It's quick, easy and free. And we won't give your email address to anyone.)
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making
such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and
social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any
such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this
site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond
'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Common Dreams NewsCenter <http://www.commondreams.org/>
A non-profit news service providing breaking news & views for the
progressive community.
Home <http://www.commondreams.org/> | Newswire
<http://www.commondreams.org/newswire.htm> | Contacting Us
<http://www.commondreams.org/contactingus.htm> | About Us
<http://www.commondreams.org/about.htm> | Donate
<https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1493/t/105/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_K
EY=1869> | Sign-Up
<http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1493/t/24/signUp.jsp?key=1439> |
Archives <http://www.commondreams.org/archives.htm>
C Copyrighted 1997-2008 <http://www.commondreams.org/>
www.commondreams.org
Podcast Powered by <http://www.mightyseek.com/podpress/> podPress (v8.2)
<http://www.quantcast.com/p-9bNnJVyoTrfhk> Quantcast
_____
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0001.html
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 7711 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0005.gif
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7712 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0001.jpe
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 173 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0006.gif
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 1039 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0007.gif
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 352 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0008.gif
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 276 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0006.png
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 160 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0007.png
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 219 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0008.png
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 998 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0009.png
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 671 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0010.png
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 478 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0011.png
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 35 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080722/81e21c8e/attachment-0009.gif
More information about the Dialogue
mailing list